


Crown of Laurels

by madansemacabre



Series: Calystegia [3]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Amputation, Anal Sex, Drug Abuse, Drug Dealing, F/F, F/M, Gang Violence, M/M, Near Death Experiences, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2020-11-26 12:20:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 25
Words: 68,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20930129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madansemacabre/pseuds/madansemacabre
Summary: Two years after the turbulent events that shook the city of Goa to its core, things haven’t necessarily changed for the betterThis powerful dangerous genetic messing drug called Smile with severe side effects has hemorrhaged slowly and surely into the city – and with the Whitebeard gone, nobody is quite sure where it’s coming from or who is responsible for itLaw has been missing for a month, out doing /something/. Corazon is trying to break the mystery of what exactly is going on at Goa High that caused Law to flee and why the administration has been so secretive, refusing to help him. Captain Smoker is hot on the trail on the people responsible for this drug, bringing him and his new recruits to the infamous abandoned sealed off military test site – that seems to be bustling with activity!And somehow, Luffy D. Monkey is always in the middle of itThings haven’t really changed in the city of GoaThis is the sequel to Calystegia!





	1. - CORAZON - I Haven't Slept Since You've Been Gone (AKA I WILL MURDER YOU, YOU LITTLE PUNK)

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the long-awaiting sequel to Calystegia! This part is really going to be Law's part!
> 
> If this is your first foray into the world of Calystegia, I'd tell you to go read the previous first part because otherwise it could get confusing but I'm also not your mother, so do whatever you want~!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the long-awaiting sequel to Calystegia! This part is really going to be Law's part!
> 
> If this is your first foray into the world of Calystegia, I'd tell you to go read the previous first part because otherwise it could get confusing but I'm also not your mother, so do whatever you want~!

_“I’m sorry Luffy, we still haven’t heard anything about Law. I promise I’ll let you know the second I do, okay?”_

Cora sighed deeply, unable to hide how much seeing Luffy frown after he nodded at Bepo , walking away from their front porch, clearly frustrated, was hurting him as well

_It had been a month since any one had seen Law_

Corazon wished he knew exactly what has happened, but he wasn’t able to even remotely piece the story together

He had sent Law and Bepo to school

Law left for school happy

Well, _happy for Law that is_, let’s be honest

Next thing he knew, he had a frantic call from Bepo on his voicemail telling him that Law had disappeared before first period

_“Law’s gone! He saw the new Vice Principal Cora, he said that the principal wanted to see Law and Law just followed him!! But he lost all the colour in his face and next thing I know, Law never showed up for first period! I don’t know what happened! I tried to talk to the Vice Principal and he said that Law didn’t even go with him! That he merely brushed him off and left saying that he was skipping school today! Law wouldn’t do that, Cora! You know he wouldn’t!”_

Cora closed his eyes at the memory, trying to not make himself cry again

He and Bepo had spent hours and hours looking for any sign of Law around the city. Nearly everyone they knew in town had also helped out. But once they got home, Cora found a note on the kitchen table with Law’s phone over it

The note merely said for Cora not to go looking for him and that _‘it was time for this nightmare to finally end’_

The phone was also a clear message ‘_don’t try to contact me’_

Cora let out a gargling noise; accidentally choking himself with the tie was he was currently trying to tie

_“Cora, you okay?”_ asked Bepo in a small voice

Cora smiled sadly at Bepo, unable to mask it

“As okay as I can be right now, considering everything. You’re going to go hang out with Shachi and Penguin and the others while I’m at work, right?”

Bepo nodded, grabbing his back pack near the door

“Yeah, I don’t want to stay home alone, y’know?”

Cora pulled Bepo into a hug, hugging him tight, completely understanding

“We’ll find him, Bepo. He’ll come home, _I promise_”

_“It’s been a whole goddamn month, Rosinante! Explain to me why the fuck you haven’t filed a missing person’s report yet?!”_

Cora looked up from his desk, typing away his report from the break-in he investigated the previous night, staring right into a furious Bellemere, her hands on her hips

“Because Law isn’t technically ‘missing’. By the law’s definition, he’s merely a runaway”

“He’s under 18, you can still file a missing person’s report!” replied Bellemere, not buying it

“Yeah, for like, a week left! He left a note, Bellemere. I know Law, if I chase him; he’s just going to go more into hiding! You’re talking about a kid who hid under piles of corpses to not get seen by government agents! If Law wants to stay missing, _he will!_ Nothing will change that!” snapped Cora

“Ace stopped by this morning” started Bellemere “He said that when Law pops back up that he’s going to punch him right in the dick because he’s the perfect height…and I won’t be repeating what threat Sabo left on the answering machine for Law”

Cora groaned, rubbing his brow

He wasn’t surprised at all at how mad Luffy’s brothers were. Cora wasn’t the only one who got a really cryptic message. So did Luffy

Law merely sent a message to Luffy that said ‘_We’re through. Don’t contact me anymore’_

So no shit they were pissed, _Law had dumped Luffy by text message_

Cora tried to get the full story out of Luffy, but it was exactly like Bepo had said. He said that he had hugged Law (well, Torao as Luffy called him), they had shared a kiss, Law had asked about him moving into the Thousand Sunny house. Nami had asked Bepo and Law how Japan was and then the new Vice Principal came and said that the Principal wanted to see Law

_“He never came to class. I even saved him a seat at our morning assembly and he never showed up, Mister Rosisi! And then I went to see the new vice principal and asked him where Law went and he said that he ‘wasn’t feeling well and went home’. So I came to check up on him during lunch, but he wasn’t there! So I kept trying to call him, but I kept getting to voicemail! And then after we all went looking for him that night, that’s when that dumb message was waiting for me! I only saw it when I got home because my phone died because I tried calling him so much that day!”_

Cora had apologized to Luffy on Law’s behalf for such a callous way of breaking up. Luffy had merely frowned, glaring right at Cora in response

_“No. We’re not done because I don’t accept this! He clearly didn’t mean it! Something’s wrong, Mister Rosisi! I’m not letting Law fight this alone!”_

Cora had been stunned by Luffy’s sudden use of Law’s actual name, but the determination in his eyes was unmistakable

Law might have tried to push Luffy away for his own safety, but Luffy wasn’t having it

Cora only wish he knew what had set off Law’s flight or fight response. _Especially someone able to activate the flight mode in particularly._ Law wasn’t one to back from a fight. So for it to be someone that caused him to run? He just couldn’t figure out what happened.

Cora had tried many times to contact the school, to get some sort of information – but he was never able to get past the new secretary. Which was extremely frustrating for him because frankly, _she looked like an actual child_, just dismissing him, eating away grapes, pretending he wasn’t even there!

He hadn’t been able to set up any kind of meeting with the Vice Principal, much less the actual Principal, the reason stated being that he had _‘threatened the previous Principal therefore, his privileges to dealing directly with either or, has been revoked’_

_Okay, so maybe he had threatened Akainu, but the fucker deserved it!_

When he had asked Bepo about it, he merely got told that the new Principal was so private that he wasn’t even at the general assembly

That nobody had seen him yet

“I asked around like you asked, Cora. But nobody, I mean nobody has seen him. All the new teachers know of him though. All praise him like crazy, but we don’t even have a name! Nothing!”

Cora had even asked Franky, Brooks and Robin for information, since they were all teachers at the school – only to find out that they hadn’t even met the man yet!

_“Dude, I swear. I haven’t even seen him! He’s like, the freaking Sasquatch or something” _

_“He has an odd laugh. I heard him talking to the Vice Principal once through the office door while I was making photocopies” started Robin, frowning “Honestly it gave me the creeps”_

_“He insisted on the new gym teacher taking over my kendo club, but I never saw him. I was merely given a note one day. But I don’t know what happened to Mr.Kyros who was the previous gym teacher. It’s almost like he disappeared, which is odd because his daughter just started attending our school”_

Cora honestly found the whole thing beyond suspicious. But he had to be careful. He wasn’t a World Government Agent anymore, having been stripped of his titles and rank. Well, he retired officially, _but he didn’t have a choice and he knew it._ As a simple detective, he couldn’t exactly go investigate at a school without a good reason

_“MEN! GET INSIDE NOW! It’s time for the last briefing before we go on sting tomorrow!”_

Cora jumped slightly as the Captain bellowed from the conference room, watching all their new recruits rush into the room

The new batch was a bit…_rough_

Apparently they had all graduated from the famous G5 Police Academy – well, _infamous_ is really the word

They were usually known to graduate dirty cops. Guys who only wanted to shoot ‘bad guys’ and all the other stereotypes of ‘bad cops’. Smoker though had insisted on taking in the graduating class and to shape them up into fine cops

Frankly, aside from a few rough edges here and there – _Smoker had done it_

The cops were really rough around the edges, but they genuinely tried to be good people and good cops. Also they had adopted this almost pack-like mentality with the Captain, to almost hero worship level

But if the Captain was their hero – Tashigi was their saint. Sometimes Cora was convinced that they were more afraid of disappointing her that the Captain, but whatever kept those men on the straight and narrow

“I still can’t believe SMILE got so bad that the Captain has to go on a sting operation” mumbled Bellemere, who was now leaning on the desk across from Cora’s, arms crossed

“Yeah, that drug really came out of nowhere”

_It all started last summer_

They had started getting calls, saying that someone had broken into their business or their home, but yelling that the person had been a monster, inhuman, that without hits and shots and seemed fine

_But the one thing in common is that the people high on it were unable to show any other emotion than happiness, hence it’s name_

Soon enough word got to them about this new street drug called SMILE that apparently had the ability to imitate the abilities of the Akumanomi, but only temporary. And of course people have been using it to either do completely dangerous stunts for their tiktoks or of course,_ crime_. But it was apparently an affordable street drug, which blew Cora’s mind honestly. But since it modified your genetic material, the side effects had been rather horrific

At first people where simply falling from their high in a devastating way, unable to function at all for a couple of days. Or they would take way too much of it, hoping to avoid the fall, and wound up overdosing. So far, nobody had died from an overdose – _but many wish they were dead_. The effects had been catastrophic. People had their entire nervous system shut down on them or worst. And since much like the Akumanomi, you didn’t quite know how this drug would affect you, you also didn’t know how the overdose would affect you either. Some people had now constant searing pain in their limbs, convinced that they were literally on fire or being completely delusional, like screaming that they were now a mermaid and unable to believe otherwise either

And now in the last few weeks, people were OD-ing faster and faster. The drug hitting them harder and better. Cora had no idea why the drug was suddenly getting so much better – but the Captain was planning on finding their hidden lab and taking it down

Cora sighed sadly, wishing with all of his heart that Law, who was god-knows-where, wouldn’t do anything as stupid as take SMILE. But when Law was in a bad place, he got really reckless, so it wasn’t completely out of the possibility but _uurrggh_

“I know you want to protect your kid’s privacy or some shit, but I really think you should file that report because you’re clearly not doing okay! Look at you Rosisi! I think today is the first day you’ve shaved in a month!” chided Bellemere, grabbing Cora’s collar and started to shake him literally out of his stupor

“I know I know, just, _I can’t do it right now_. I will, I promise. Just…Just when I piece everything together, I just, I can’t let Law pull back even more” explained Cora, rubbing the back of his neck

_“You’re an idiot”_

“I know, but also if I make the missing people’s report, that means that the Captain will have to put someone on the case, and frankly, he doesn’t need that kind of extra stress right now”

Bellemere groaned, letting it drop

“You do have a point with that one, at least. We’re going to be so bare bones while they’re on their sting”

The Captain had been working hard and consistently long hours since SMILE came on the scene. Smoker had done an extraordinary job cleaning up the streets of Goa. So much that he was given the responsibility of all the neighbouring townships as well. There was still someone above him – Cora had merely heard of him but never met him. Apparently the G5 officers were very fond of this guy too

_It was odd to think that Smoker reported to someone honestly_

But because of this, Cora knew that the Captain often pulled all-nighters, went on tons of patrols and did a lot of investigating himself. He personally went to every SMILE call too. Interviewed every single person he could, looked into all the reports nationwide as well

Which is how he managed to track down the lab in either one of three different locations, hence the sting operation_. He was going to find the lab once and for all and shut it up down_

Cora honestly felt bad for Ace. The other still came in regularly, to drop off a meal for the Captain, knowing that the other simply wouldn’t stop to do something as _useless_, in his own words, _as get a meal._

Ace swore that he was doing just fine, big smile on his face – but the worry in his face was clear. He wasn’t only worrying for the Captain’s health either; there was clearly something else that Ace just simply didn’t want to discuss. Hopefully the Captain will notice and get some sort of answer out of Ace

The other lost so much two years ago and now Sabo was on the run. Ace could play happy newly engaged fiancé all he wanted, but Cora knew someone that was simply pretending that he was okay right now. Which sucked considering how happy he was only a month ago when he was newly engaged

Cora groaned – _everything really led back to Law going missing, wasn’t it?_

_“FUCK! THERE THEY ARE AGAIN!” _

Cora screamed as he bolted from his seat, making Bellemere jump back as Cora tripped over his chair, crashing to the ground. He quickly scrambled up, breaking into a run, lunging over the gate separating the front desk from the main entrance – scaring the daylights out of everyone in their lobby. Especially considering that even though Cora managed to lunge over the gate, he overshot and crashed right into the wall. He quickly got back up and ran out of the doors – he’ll worry about the damage to the wall afterwards!

_He had no time!_

Once outside, he desperately looked side to side

_He could have sworn he just saw Baby 5 and Buffalo go by!_

Cora kept seeing them! At the theaters! At the mall! In the park! Etc!

At first he thought he was just seeing an illusion but this was getting ridiculous! If he was seeing things, clearly he’d be seeing Law everywhere! _Not Baby 5 and Buffalo!_

And last time he had seen them, _they were still pre-teens!_ Now he was seeing teenagers! Baby 5 was clearly a young woman now! How could he possibly know what she looked like now! Buffalo just…well he just looked like a much bigger version of himself! But still! He knew he wasn’t losing it!

Yet every single time he tried to go see them, find them why they’re there, _if they knew anything about Law’s disappearance_, they were gone

Cora crumpled to the ground, fresh tears falling from his face

_He was terrified that Doffy got him_

He refused to put the thoughts into words though, for Bepo’s sake, for the Police Department’s sake, for Luffy’s sake

_Frankly, for his own sake_

But deep down, he knew, _oh he knew that Doffy was somehow involved with Law’s disappearance_

But Cora also knew that if Doffy had him – _he would have bragged about it_

_Look, little brother, Law has returned to me_

_Look, little brother, he chose to return to his true home_

_Look, little brother, he’s back exactly where he belongs_

_Look, little brother,_

_Look,_

_Look how Law chose me over you_

There hasn’t been a single message from Doflamingo since the last one before the events of two years ago

Cora watched Doffy’s icon like a hawk when he’s at home, waiting for it to go green

_C’mon you bastard, tempt me, confirm it for me_

Cora had shamefully sat in front of his computer all night, staring at the icon, while downing his grief in wine

And also shamefully, _more than one night too_

The only reason that he stopped is that the last time, Bepo had found the morning, still downing the alcohol, crying at the computer

The look Bepo gave him was enough to shake him out of him; the other was clearly beyond upset and unable to handle the scene in from of him. Already devastated over Law, he was clearly at his wit’s end

_“Please Cora, I already lost my whole family, now Law, please, not you too”_

Cora hadn’t touched a single drop of alcohol since

He needed to be strong for his boys, _both of them_

“Law, please come home. I have faith in you, I really do, _but I need you home and safe_”

_“TRAFALGAR! What the fuck are you doing sitting in the parking lot!”_

Cora turned his head, wiping his tears with his sleeve as he looked at the angry Captain

“Shit…Sorry Captain, I’ll go back i-“

“_Take your time_” stated the Captain, instantly softening up, looking away, clearly for Cora’s sake “Just, _get off the ground. _Have more pride than that”

_Don’t let them see that they got to you_

Cora nodded, understanding what the Captain was trying to say, smiling softly as he stood up

“You’re right” he exclaimed, wiping away the remaining tears

_He needed to keep up appearances _

“Also, in my office when you can. Quickly, I got some news you’re going to want to know”

_What?!_

_“What did you hear?!”_

Cora had practically ran to the Captain, but the other insisted that they talk in the office

“You’re going to have to sit down” warned the Captain as he sat at his desk, quickly unlocking his computer

“Smoker, seriously, _what is it?”_ begged Cora, unable to deal with this waiting game

“This notice just came through. There’s a new Warlord added to the Warlord Program” started Smoker, typing away

“_What?_ Who the hell could it be? All of the heavy hitters are clearly well known?!”

“Apparently this one had 100 gang members surrender themselves to the World Government, screaming that their hearts had been stolen”

Cora stared at Smoker shocked – _this was insane?!_ Who the hell had the capacity to do that to people?

“They’ve been calling him Dr.Heart Stealer or also by another moniker, _the Surgeon of Death_”

_Oh no_

_Oh NO_

Smoker turned the monitor around, showing Cora the very clear picture of Law, wearing a thick black coat and his usual white spotted hat, smirking on the notice

_“Congratulations, Trafalgar, your boy’s a Warlord”_

Cora was pretty sure he had just lost ten years of his life

He was also pretty sure that he now had to find Law as fast a possibly

But mostly, he’s pretty sure he just screeched at the top of his lungs, in the middle of his boss’ office

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnd Law's in shit! But we all knew that was coming right? Right?
> 
> So a few upkeeping things! 
> 
> I'm still planning on releasing Calystegia in print (mostly for myself), just formatting it and doing some spellchecking and shit took a REALLY long time. Also the other issue is finding someone's who's willing to print a brick of a book when I don't own the OP and it has sex scenes it YANNO, good stuff
> 
> Another major thing is that I can't promise a consistent updating schedule for this part 8C I now work a goverment office job with a long ass commute so my time is uh, limited as hell, but I'll do my best!
> 
> I did though open a twitter for my fics! It's at @ madansemacabre ! So if you're wondering if there's gonna be an update this week or not, I will post it there! (also if you wish to bask me with praise =^= I won't mind!) but kidding aside, also I can answer things faster on twitter if you have specific questions and stuff because it has an app that's easy to use and welp, AO3 does not, so I can only really answer comments on desktop! 
> 
> All in all, I hope you enjoy this new arc!


	2. - LAW - Look Cora, I’m on a Milk Carton (La Fugue)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY FOR THE MONTH DELAY! I wasn't quite ready to begin when I posted chapter 1, I just wanted it to be posted on Law's birthday kfhdksdk but I had so much shit to figure out 
> 
> But what I decided to do is that I'm doing NaNoWriMo this year and this is what I'm writing! If you wish to follow the sorta (?) progress, it's profile is here! 
> 
> https://nanowrimo.org/participants/joseethefirst/projects/crown-of-laurels
> 
> So far it's going well! (I have uh, 5 chapters written so far?)
> 
> (also please don't take the playlist too seriously, some of the song choices are super deep and mean a lot while others it's 'I LIKE THE VIBE OF THIS')
> 
> Anyways! Enjoy!

Law couldn’t breathe

_He couldn’t think_

_He couldn’t exist right now_

Law honestly felt like he was watching everything happen from the outside, that it wasn’t him following _his literal nightmare_ to his office

_Was he disassociating?!_

_Vergo_

The man he had trusted to save Cora when he was hurt

Only to have him not only beat the living shit out of himself and Cora, but bluntly announced to Doflamingo that Cora had betrayed them

The one who had led him to Cora was himself

_Law had never forgiven himself for that_

When he had nightmares, when they weren’t about what happened in Flevance, _it was always what happened with Vergo_

The sickening crunching sound when Vergo has kicked the bleeding and wounded Cora directly in the face, _Cora’s blood flying everywhere_

Every hit, Law weakly stood by, his body sick and falling apart as Cora, _his savior_, was being beaten for saving his life

He knew he should run, go somewhere, do something, but he was so frozen in fear that all he could do is keep following Vergo

Vergo would lead him to Doflamingo reasoned Law

No, _who was he kidding?_

_He was a coward_

Law was terrified that if he made a scene, Cora would be called to the school and _he couldn’t have that happen_

He needs to _play nice_

_For Cora_

But also because Law had been sitting in the quad with his friends and loved ones – _meaning now Vergo knew exactly who they all were_

He just can’t take chances

_Vergo could easily kill them all and would do it too _

He just -

_He couldn’t_

_He would need to take the danger onto his himself_

_For everyone_

“Come inside, please” said Vergo, in a gentle, nice voice

It was almost an absurd picture with the scrambled eggs stuck on Vergo’s cheek as he held the door open for Law

The door loudly creaked as it closed behind him

Law quickly noticed that the windows that used to be on the office’s door frame between the school’s office lobby and the vice-principal’s office were now gone - meaning nobody could look inside the office from the lobby

_Meaning nobody could see whatever was about to happen _

“Sit.” ordered Vergo as Law heard the distinctive turning of the door’s lock

Law sat in the small chair, his head looking down as he felt his entire body start to slightly shake

He felt like he was that small weak kid again, trembling, terrified of what was going to happen next

“I didn’t think I would see you so soon, Law” said Vergo as he placed his hand on Law’s shoulder, gripping much harder than it would be appropriate for a vice-principal

Law knew it would bruise – but he also knew that there was no point of complaining about it to anyone afterwards _because nobody would believe him_

He knew that people said that he looked scary while Vergo came off as the_ nicest man ever_

“What are you doing here?” managed to growl out Law, trying to keep the shaking out of his voice

_And failing miserably_

“_I don’t have to explain myself to you, traitor_” stated Vergo as he turned quickly and slapped Law hard across the face, sending the other flying out of his chair, crashing onto the floor

Law hit the ground with a loud crunch, the wind knocked out of him as the chair also hit him as it hit the floor

_“Are you out of your fucking mind?!”_ yelled Law, shocked, as he felt the blood leaking from his nose

They were in a school! _The secretary would hear him!_

“Do you honestly think anyone out there is going to say something?” asked Vergo as he kicked Law hard in the ribs, making Law spit out blood

Law spat out the remaining blood in his mouth, trying to crawl away from Vergo, but knowing very well that Vergo wasn’t going to give him an opening

“T-This is a school!” replied Law, shocked 

_Was he really going to be killed in his high school vice-principal’s office?!_

“Wonderful cover, isn’t it?” 

Vergo grabbed Law by his hair, his hat having fallen off and slammed him down to the ground hard

“Doflamingo wanted you back oh so bad, but I think he’ll forgive me if something happened to you before hand. _Traitors deserve to be punished_”

Vergo bent over, grabbing Law by his throat and lifted him up

Law gasped, trying to claw at his throat, his mind scrambling to find a way out. But between the muffled feeling in his head, his heart pounding in his ears and now the lack of oxygen , he couldn’t figure out how to make his limbs function, _much less figure out an escape_

But then the office phone started to ring

“Ah-“ Vergo merely said as he dropped Law to the ground, walking over to his desk to answer the phone

_“Yes, young master. You need me?”_

Law collapsed on the floor, struggling to stay conscience, sucking in as much sweet oxygen as he could

He needed to get out

_He needed to get out now!_

Suddenly Law spotted the solid metal nameplate on Vergo’s desk and he knew right away – _he had one shot_

Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Law slowly rose to his feet, feeling his knees shaking and his lungs protesting

_One_

_Two_

_Three-!_

Law lunged for the desk, surprising Vergo as he grabbed the name plate. Vergo took a step back, expecting Law to hit him with it

But instead Law threw it at the window hard, smashing the glass leading outside - thankfully his akumanomi clicked in at the right moment and Law knew exactly where to aim for to make the glass smash as much as possible

The step back that Vergo took gave Law the space and the opening he needed to make a mad dash for the now already shattered window and threw himself through the small jagged hole that he had already made - _breaking the remainder of the window_

Vergo let out a loud yowl, clearly frustrated as Law stumbled to the ground outside, thankful it was grass and not concrete outside of the window, and skillfully rolled himself back to his feet and took off running

He was bleeding and covered in scratches and cuts, but Law kept running

Law was quickly trying to figure out all of his options

Vergo was more likely than not going to chase after him

For appearance sake, he wouldn’t be able to go through the window; _otherwise his cover would most likely be blown_

Meaning Law’s best chance was to head to the parking lot that was on the side of the building – if he was lucky, he’ll see someone he knew that could drive him out of here and worst comes, _he’ll hotwire his own van_

Bepo had the keys, but he wasn’t going to put Bepo in Vergo’s warpath, _no way in fucking hell_

Law made it to the parking lot and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw many cars in the parking lot, just now parking

No!

_NO!!_

One by one, coming out of the cars, were many of the Doflamingo Gang’s major Capos

_Pica?!_

_Trebol?!_

_Diamente?!_

Law scrambled to stop suddenly, causing him to trip and roll over a few times until he finally landed into the bushes. He groaned as he sat up, every bone in his body protesting the further abuse

_“Fuck, how does Cora do this all the time?” _groaned Law

Quietly, Law hid in the bushes until he saw all the Capos go inside the school, confirming his worst fears

Doflamingo had infiltrated his high school

_How had he not noticed?!_

_How could he have been that irresponsible?!_

The signs were all there! The school had gotten major renovations over the summer and they were still ongoing. Also there was an announcement about a bunch of new teachers, a lot of new funding and Vergo as vice-principal?!

_All the signs were there_

Law wasn’t sure what he was going to do now or where he was going to go – but he knew one thing for sure

_He had to get as far away as possible from the school right now_

Law quickly shoved his entire life savings into his pocket, having just drained his bank account, knowing that Cora was going to kill him if he ever got his hands on him.

But using his card wasn’t safe anymore and he was going to be tracked if he did. _He couldn’t risk that right now_

Law knew the best thing to do right now was to fall off the face of the earth. He still planned on taking Doflamingo down – but it had to be on his own turf. Doflamingo liked making fights come to him – when he could control the playing field, it was always to his advantage. Meaning Law had two options – either he overpowered him or he made Doflamingo give up the high grounds and come after him. 

Either way, Law knew for sure that until he figured things out –_ he couldn’t stay home_

As quickly as he could, Law walked back to his home

Thankfully, he still had his wallet in his back pocket therefore had his home key – everything in his backpack would have to be considered a loss for now

Walking into the quiet house, Law could feel his heart breaking

_He had to leave his home_

Making his way upstairs, Law pulled out a black canvas duffle bag and started to quickly pack the supplies he needed. He then ran to the bathroom and quickly took off his blood soiled clothing and chucked it into a garbage bag and into his duffle bag. The last thing he needed was Cora out looking for him because he thought Law was dying. He’d have to dispose of it later

Law quickly tried to pick out all the broken shards of glass out of his skin and hair and put the pieces into the garbage before putting the tweezers down on the counter. Law gave himself a good look in the mirror, cringing at the colour of the ugly bruises he could see would be coming all over his body. Vergo definitely broke a rib or two – so Law knew right away that going after Doflamingo right now was dangerous and stupid

He needed to bide his time

He needed to get better, heal up, and _then go for it_

But before that, he had a few things he needed to do and wee,_ figure out_

Now changed, Law walked back down the stairs and into the kitchen. He took out his cellphone and quickly sent all the content of the phone to his laptop. Law couldn’t afford to have something that could be tracked on him 

But once he left the app he was on, he saw his wallpaper. It was a picture he and Luffy took last summer when they went to the State Fair together. To commemorate the evening, they took a picture together with the fireworks behind them

_Luffy_

Law stared at his phone quietly for a moment, knowing exactly what needed to be done. He inhaled sharply and started to quickly type on his phone

“I’m so so sorry I have to do this” mumbled Law as he sent the text

Law held the phone to his mouth, closing his eyes as he tried to stop the tears threatening to escape the corner of his eyes

_“Thank you so much for all the love you gave me, Luffy” _

Exhaling, Law unlocked his phone and quickly factory reset it and turned it off. He set the phone on the table

He’ll have to go buy a burner phone, but it was safer than being traceable with his usual phone

Law then pulled out his wallet and started to take out all the cards and then the photos he had

The ones with Luffy, the ones with Shachi and Penguin and Jean Bart

The ones with the Strawhats

The ones with Bepo

The only one he allowed himself to keep was a small photobooth photo he and Cora had taken while they had been on the run, all those years ago

Cora had barely fit in the damn booth and Law was pretty far along with his disease

Originally, Law hadn’t wanted to – _but Cora really did_

“_I want a photo to remember this journey by!”_ he had insisted

Law didn’t have the heart to deny him this after everything the other had done for him

Law still looked annoyed, having to sit on Cora’s lap so that they both fit inside the booth

But Cora was smiling brightly and beautifully

The same smile that he would give him again, mere weeks later, as he told Law he loved him

_This is why he was doing this_

_This is who he was doing this for_

He’d allow himself to at least keep this photo

Law quickly emptied out his wallet. Making sure the only things that remained was the money he took out, the small photo, and a phone number scratched onto a scrap of paper

Putting his wallet back into his back pocket, Law opened the closet door and pulled out the large black coat he had just finished modifying last weekend. It was starting to get cold, so Law knew he was going to need it if he might have to live on the streets for a while

Law then grabbed his Nodachi from it’s sitting stand in the living room and made his way to the door. Once in the entryway, he gave the house one last, long, lingering look knowing very well that he might never see this place again

He only hoped that Cora would forgive him for what he was about to do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnd there we have it! Why Law ran off
> 
> Again, for more or less updates, feel free to check out the twitter
> 
> https://twitter.com/madansemacabre
> 
> I'll be more consistent with the updates now that uh, I HAVE some for you! Next chapter will hopefully go up on Sunday!


	3. -SMOKER – Swimming to Ship-Trap Island (Fuck the Count!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wee new POV! So the way it's gonna work for a bit is that we'll have Smoker's POV just because Punk Hazard is really busy with Smoker and frankly, what fun!
> 
> I added the SmoAce tag back mostly because of Smoker's POV and this chapter particularly
> 
> Once again, between * and * is the sex, if that's not your jam, you can skip it by crtl+F

Smoker was going to have to make sure not to remember the scene in front of him at work  _ or he’d pitch a tent in front of his men _

*

Ace was sprawled out on his back on the bed wedge, making his waist at level with Smoker’s as he kept thrusting into him. Ace’s legs were on either side of Smoker’s waist, his entire body flushed, making his freckles stand out more than usual as Smoker leaned down and sucked and kissed every part of Ace’s chest. He made sure to pay special attention to Ace’s nipples, which has gotten considerably more sensitive to compensate for lack of feeling below his waist

Even though his men in the G5 squad hadn’t been particularly discreet with their open comments about Ace’s appearance, Smoker wanted to keep _ this _ all to himself. Thankfully though, Smoker had to note, for the sake of his men, that he wasn’t a jealous or possessive man or a few of his men would have lost their teeth by now. He did though, shoot nasty glares their way when Smoker felt their comments crossed a line

“A-Ah Chase!” moaned Ace, throwing his head back, arching his throat, exposing it more to Smoker, who couldn’t resist the temptation to cover it with bite marks as he kept thrusting into Ace even harder

Honestly he was surprised when Ace had asked him if they could have sex this morning. Ace had a morning class and Smoker had to leave for his sting operation and sex now involved considerably more prep than before.  _ But Smoker wasn’t stupid enough to say no to sex with Ace eithe _ r, glad that they were still able to keep this intimacy between them regardless of what happened

Smoker grunted as he came, stopping his movements to take a breather as he leaned down and kissed Ace softly, who eagerly returned it. Carefully pulling himself out of Ace, Smoker then leaned over to grab the vibrator they had thrown to their side earlier and turned it on

“M’gonna finish you off, okay?”

Ace exhaled, trying to catch his breath

“Wait wait, I wanna watch, so let’s flip the wedge around” said Ace as he shifted to his side, off the wedge

Smoker chuckled slightly as he leaned over, flipping the wedge around and Ace quickly got back on it, grinning as he put his arms behind his head

“Alright babe, please me~”

Smoker snorted as he leaned over Ace and captured his lips again as he started to stimulate Ace’s hard dick with the vibrator. Ace moaned softly into the kisses as the two devoured each other’s mouth. They haven’t really been apart since they’ve moved in together and Smoker knew that he was going to take it hard,  _ as much as he’d like to deny it _

Ace moaned loudly as his orgasm took him by surprise, his entire body tensing up. Smoker knew it wasn’t as strong as it was before, but any time he could make Ace feel good, he was going to greedily take it

*

Turning off the vibrator and setting it on the bed, Smoker took Ace’s hand and softly kissed the engagement ring on Ace’s hand

It didn’t matter who said what comment about Ace’s appearance and how much they wished they could be the one in Smoker’s place – If there was something that Ace had that he could never be doubt – _ it was Ace’s fierce loyalty _

And Ace had said yes to him forever. Smoker knew that Ace was going to his forever

“Babbyy, as much as I’m enjoying you lavishing me like this, we’re running out of time” mentioned Ace, smiling dopely, a soft purr in his voice “I got school and you gotta go”

_ God he was beautiful when he was fucked stupid _

“You’re right” mumbled Smoker as he took his condom off, tying a quick knot at the end, before he threw in the trash can near his nightstand “I wanna put the sheets in the wash so you don’t have to worry about that while I’m gone. Also are you doing okay? How’s your head?”

Smoker then leaned in, stroking Ace’s hair softly

_ Ace’s face didn’t seem particularly redder than usual after sex... _

Ace smiled gently as he kissed Smoker’s cheek

“I’m fine, I took the nifedipine as soon as I got up”

Smoker smiled gently as he pushed Ace’s hair slightly behind his ear

_ Ace was just so incredibly beautiful _

He still couldn’t get over that someone this gorgeous was also literally beautiful inside and out  _ and loved him back _

“I have to shower, babe” mumbled Ace sadly as he looked over his shoulder towards his wheelchair by the bed and then back at Smoker “You’re making it reeaaally hard, I just want to curl right back into bed with you”

“I’ll carry you” offered Smoker he rolled over to the other side of the bed, swinging his legs off the side of the bed and stood up “That way you won’t dirty your chair” 

“Hmm, that sounds nice, I could get a few squeezes in too” teased Ace, grinning as he wiggled his eyebrows and wiggled his fingers with a wolfish smile

Smoker jokingly rolled his eyes as he went around the bed and quickly grabbed the chair, rolling it over to Ace’s side. Then he leaned down and picked up Ace with one arm, Ace quickly wrapped his arms around Smoker’s neck to not fall off and Smoker with his other arm, pushed the chair as he went towards the bathroom

_ “You bastard!”  _ complained Ace, huffing his cheeks “ _ You picked me up like this on purpose!” _

Smoker smirked – in this position Ace needed to hold on to him, therefore didn’t have a free hand to grope him

Once in the bathroom, Smoker sat Ace down in the seat in the shower, leaning down and stealing a quick kiss, still smirking, and turned to leave

A loud grunt escaped Smoker’s lips, surprised as he felt a sharp smack on his bare ass

Turning around to give Ace an unimpressed look – he was met by a smirking, self-satisfied Ace

_ Okay, touché _

“Okay,  _ you won that one _ ” confirmed Smoker as Ace chuckled, leaning over to start the showerhead “I’m going to change the sheets and start the wash and then I’ll join ya”

“Leave your pillowcase!” yelled Ace after him as Smoker walked out

Smoker could feel the tips of his earlobes go red at the comment;  _ beyond flattered that Ace liked his scent so much _ , knowing very well that Ace was going to steal his pillow while he was gone

Smoker quickly took off the sheets off the bed, throwing them in the laundry hamper as he went to lay the comforter on the balcony’s railing outside to air it out

_ Well, after slipping on a pair of boxers real quick because he had no intention of showing his junk to all of his neighbours _

The weather was getting colder and colder, honestly he wouldn’t be surprised if snow was on the horizon soon. Even though it was merely October, which worried Smoker slightly because the humidity was a bit hard on Ace now

Smoker shook his head;  _ Ace hated it when Smoker fretted over him _ . But he couldn’t help it – he came so close to losing Ace that he’d hate for anything else to happen to him, especially while he was gone

_ But Ace was disabled _ , not incapable of taking care of himself. But honestly, he’s just as worried as he was of Ace’s wellbeing prior to  _ The Incident _

After quickly starting up the laundry, Smoker wasn’t surprised when he came back into the room with fresh new sheets and saw that both Kotatsu and Justice were in the room, staring at Smoker, annoyed that the bed didn’t have any sheets on it

_ The two had become massively spoiled babies who enjoyed stealing the bed when Smoker and Ace left it _

“Just give me a minute, will ya?!” barked Smoker as he quickly put new sheets on the bed

_ “Oye, be nice to our children!” _ replied Ace from the bathroom - of course he’d know exactly who he was talking to!

“You’ve spoiled them too much!” replied Smoker as he put the last corner on and both Justice and Kotatsu immediately jumped onto the bed, laying down on it

“Yeah, spoiled them with L O V E” retorted Ace as Smoker walked into the bathroom and quickly got into the shower with Ace –  _ it was starting to get cold as hell walking around naked _ , his boxers had been thrown in the wash as well with the sheets

“You’ve turned a perfectly trained police dog into  _ a big baby _ ”

“Uh uh, no way, you babied the hell out of her waaay before I even got here, mister” snorted Ace as he took the wash cloth and lathered soap on it “Turn around, I want to wash your back”

Smoker nodded, turning around, closing his eyes to stop the spray of warm water from getting into his eyes but then instead of feeling Ace lather up his back, he suddenly felt Ace’s arms wrap around his waist instead

Smoker sighed, defeated, a small smile on his face as he waited for the moment where Ace would of course grope him

But soon enough, he noticed that Ace was merely hugging him tightly, not saying anything

Smoker quickly turned off the shower head and looked over his shoulder, seeing that Ace’s face was buried into the small of his back

“Oye! Ace?!  _ What’s wrong? _ ”

Smoker tried to turn around but Ace was holding onto him so tightly that he was unable to

_ Ace hadn’t lost any upper body strength, that was for sure _

“ _ Do…Do you have to go? _ ” asked Ace in a small voice, surprising Smoker

“Ace…I know we’ve barely been apart since y-“

_ “It’s not that” _ cut off Ace, burying his face deeper into Smoker’s back “I just…I can’t shake off this bad feeling in my gut”

Smoker quietly cursed under his breath

He’s also been trying to ignore his own gut feeling about the sting operation,  _ so for Ace to be feeling the same way was foreboding in a way that he wasn’t comfortable with _

But he didn’t have a choice

SMILE was ruining lives and if he had the chance to stop it – _ he had to _

_ It was his duty to protect the people of this town _

“I’ll come home, Ace. I promise”

“I’ll never forgive you if you don’t” replied Ace darkly as he gave Smoker’s waist another squeeze

“How can I not come home to this?” offered Smoker as he grabbed Ace’s hands on his stomach, giving them a reassuring squeeze “I have a brat I need to make an honest man out of before go grab that kid of yours”

Ace laughed softly against Smoker’s skin, causing gentle vibrations

“Hey now, she’ll be yours too”

“Yeah, she will be” replied Smoker softly, but he couldn’t stop the butterflies in his stomach neither

When Ace had told him about the little girl that he had met when he had traveled before his senior year of high school, Smoker could tell right away that Ace longed to see her again

This small orphan child called Tama that had been enamoured with Ace and vice versa – the two had become sorta pen pals. Ace sent packages and letters to her every time he could and she would send him back drawings and small homemade gifts. Smoker had built Ace a display case in the living room for all of the little girl’s presents. Ace had cried when he saw it, beyond touched – and it was in that moment that Smoker knew that he wanted to bring Tama home if he could

But if Smoker was honest with himself, he was nervous. Children were usually scared of him. He tried everything he could from crouching down to speak to kids at their level, keeping small candies in his pockets ( _ only when he was in uniform though because otherwise that would be creepy as hell _ ) and everything else,  _ but he was terrified of this kid being scared of him because of how much she meant to Ace _

Ace had told Tama all about him though; the other seemed really excited to meet him. Tama apparently really wanted to meet the person that Ace loved (also had mentioned something about working hard to become a ‘bewitching ninja’, which confused the hell out of him because  _ what the hell _ )

But the laws were strict – for a same sex couple,  _ they needed to be legally married _ . Also considering that the little girl lived overseas in a foster home right now, it would also be a small fortune for the whole process but he and Ace had already started the mountain of paperwork -  _ he was determined to do this _

“When I come home, let’s book that trip so I can meet her, yeah?” offered Smoker “I wouldn’t want to start the whole process and we find out she doesn’t like me” 

“You bribing me?” asked Ace, but Smoker could feel him smiling against his back “And who could not like you?” 

“Not really, I wanted to offer it before, but then this sting operation came up and I didn’t want to set dates down because I didn’t know when I’ll be coming home. But when I do, we’ll do that, okay?” Smoker then coughed, a little embarrassed at Ace’s comment, mumbling “ _ And a lot of people don’t like me, let’s be honest here”  _

“Alright, we can do that.  _ So you have to come back to me, _ babe so she can meet you and love you like I do”

“I promise, Ace”

_ “ – Also no wild parties while I’m gone!” _

They had quickly finished their shower and got ready. Now Smoker was at the door with his duffle bag, ready to head out for  _ god knows how long _

_ He wasn’t coming home until the lab was busted _

“Oh c’mon!” argued Ace, at the door with Kotatsu and Justice both trying to pry for Smoker’s attention, rubbing their heads all over Smoker’s jeans, knowing he was about to leave, Ace himself was hugging Smoker’s waist, his wheelchair putting him just at the right height

Ace had also commented that it put him just at the right height for  _ other things as well _

Things that Ace had very much indulged in and that Smoker always really enjoyed receiving

But now was not the time nor place to think of _ that _

“Justice got us so much confiscated blow for the party with her police connections!”

_ “Oh shut up” _ replied Smoker, unable to stop himself from smiling as he rolled his eyes. But then his mood grew somber “I really have to go, Ace”

“Hmm…One more minute” pleaded Ace as he closed his eyes, digging his nose into Smoker’s waist and inhaling deeply

Smoker leaned down and kissed the top of Ace’s damp hair

“I can’t be late for my own sting operation” Ace sighed, defeated as he pulled back, but Smoker quickly leaned down to capture his lips into a tender kiss

“You go catch bad guys, baby”

Smoker smiled, nodding as he turned around to leave

And promptly felt his ass get another hard smack

_ Again _

Smoker turned around to glare at Ace, but quickly his expression softened as he saw Ace chuckling from his chair, proud of himself with Kotatsu and Justice on either side of Ace

“That slap was for good luck! Like they do for football players” argued Ace, grinning

“You two keep Ace out of trouble, ya hear?” ordered Smoker to the two pets, making Ace snort loudly

“Just come home soon if you want me out of trouble!” threw back Ace smirking but then his expression turned soft, as he looked lovingly towards Smoker “I love you, Chase and I’ll miss you”

_ “I’ll come home as soon as I can” _

“Alright men, grab your equipment, we’re moving out in ten!” exclaimed Smoker as he banged his new jitte on the ground, hoping the clanking of the metal against the tiles would get everyone’s attention

He had gotten his jitte fixed after Hancock Boa _ fucking broke it _ during the sting during  _ The Incident _ , attached to it since it was a gift from  _ his father _

Tashigi walked up to him, one of her own katana’s strapped to her waist

Neither were legal weapons, but Smoker didn’t really care for stings like these. They were going to endanger their lives, so he allowed his officers to carry whatever made them more comfortable,  _ policy be damned _ . As long as nobody brought along semi-automatic weapons or explosives, he’d deal with the extra paperwork

As Smoker watched the G5 unit gather their things and start making their way outside. They had a police semi-truck motorhome available for the sting so at least nobody had to sleep outside and it could fit a dozen or so of them inside. They were bringing along two of them, enough to fit the whole unit

“Bellemere. You’re in charge while I’m gone” started Smoker and then he promptly pointed to Rosinante with his jitte “And make sure  _ that one _ stays out of my office while I’m gone!”

_ “EXCUSE ME?!” _ yelped Rosinante, having t _ he audacity _ to look offended as if he hadn’t caught the other trying to break into his office whenever he was bored “I would have never thought of that!  _ Well, until you brought it up right now!  _ Actually that sounds like a fantastic idea and I feel dumb for not having thought of it myself, thank you, Captain~!”

“ _ I mean it, Trafalgar!” _ barked Smoker “Stay out of my shit!”

“Pffft relax! If you had any news about Law, I know you would have told me”

Smoker held down his jitte, relaxing slightly

_ That’s right _ – Law had gone missing about a month ago. Honestly Smoker had asked Bellemere privately to keep an eye on Rosinante. Especially considering that Law’s birthday was coming up and  _ he knew that Rosinante was going to take it particularly rough _

“Have you picked a plot for him yet?” asked Bellemere casually, nudging Rosinante with her elbow

“Oh, you mean to bury him in once I find him and kill him for worrying me this much? Why yes, I have found this absolutely lovely shaded spot in the local cemetery”

Smoker smiled a bit –  _ if Rosinante could joke about it, it means that he was still holding onto hope _

“I’ll let you know if I encounter any word of him” promised Smoker, knowing that this is the least he could do

“If you see him, tell him to get his ass straight home”

“I’ll cuff him and bring him to your front door myself” promised Smoker, hitting his own chest with his closed fist

_ A promise between men _

“Oh Captain, you always know the right thing to say to get right to my heart!” said Rosinante, his hands clasped together as he mock swooned

Smoker rolled his eyes, pretending to act annoyed

“I’m engaged, Trafalgar. Back off” teased Smoker, putting a cigar in his mouth

“Yeah, I’m not gonna fight Ace off for you, I don’t doubt for a second he would murder me” surrendered Rosinante, lifting both hands in the air, giving up “I’ve seen what he can do to someone in a fight, even now. That bastard uses his nails”

Smoker blinked, surprised, but then laughed brightly, caught off guard by the mental image of  _ Ace fighting Rosinante  _

“He’d go right for your balls too, at the height he’s at”

_ “He’s dangerous!” _ hissed Rosinante , pretending to be scared as he tried to hide under his desk

“Oh man, I’m so telling Ace now that you’re trying to steal his man” replied Bellemere, grinning

_ “No don’t!” _

“Hello Ace? This is officer Wiper.  _ I’m saddened to have to tell you that Rosinante Trafalgar is trying to steal your man _ ”

Smoker looked at Wiper stunned, as the other was casually on the office phone

_ Bold _

Rosinante on the other hand let out a shriek

_ “YOU CALLED HIM!?” _

“No _ , but I knew you’d freak out _ ” replied Wiper with a smirk on his face as he put the handset down

_ “You bastard!” _ cried out Rosinante, making Smoker laugh again, as well as the whole office

_ It had already been two weeks _

Two weeks of living in a cramped motorhome

Two weeks of catching random thugs with barely to no information

Two weeks of squatting, two weeks of being cold every night ( _ fuck he missed Ace’s body heat right now _ ), two weeks of dry rations and two weeks of no leads

_ But Smoker wasn’t giving up _

Smoker was currently playing with the CB radio, trying to pick up signals – it was old fashion as hell, but more and more gangs were using it due to its limited interferes because it was assumed that nobody used them anymore

_ Fools _

_ Ah-  _ He was picking up on a signal!

_ “Hello? Luffy, speaking! Future King of the Underworld!” _

Smoker’s jaw dropped – these things didn’t have that wide of a signal?!  _ What the fuck was Ace’s little brother doing so close?! _

_ “HELP ME!! It’s so…cold…Is that you…boss?” _

_ “No, I ain’t your boss! Is it cold there?!” _

_ Fuck, it was Luffy _

_ “All my people…cut down, one after another…we’re being killed by a samurai!!! Huff huff” _

A samurai?  _ What?! _

_ “HEY! What’s your name?! Where are you?!” _

_ “Someone help…We’re trapped here on Punk Hazard!” _

Suddenly there was a jarring scream and then the line cut off

Fuck

_ Fuck _

_ FUCK _

“Smoker, was that…?” asked Tashigi, Smoker hadn’t even noticed her coming in

“Crap…How the hell did they get here?” muttered Smoker, frustrated

_ Luffy was this oddity in his life _

He’d never admit to Ace how he’d grown fond of the kid over the years of being with Ace, mostly because Luffy was a massive pain in his ass while he was on the job

_ For reasons exactly like this _

“Well…we had a one-in-three chance to figuring out which district the lab was in…and there seems to be nothing going on in the other towns...” 

But Punk Hazard?!  _ Really?  _

Oh the other hand... _ it would make sense _ ...nobody would suspect it

“KNOCK THAT OFF THIS INSTANT! Don’t bully suspects!” chided Tashigi at the G5 men, who were doing … _ something stupid _ …with a man they detained earlier

_ He better not be smelling smoke _

“Alright, guess we’re heading to Punk Hazard”

“But Smoker…Ever since that incident four years ago…Punk Hazard has been abandoned sealed off!! There can’t be anybody there!” argued Tashigi

“That’s right. It ain’t in any state to support life at the moment, but it’s also all we’ve got to go on for now” replied Smoker, not having it

“Are we allowed?” asked Tashigi quietly, clearly worried

“Even though it’s an abandoned military base, we’ll have to make up for trespassing on it later. This is more important and the military base was a sophisticated research facility. So it would make sense for it to be used for a drug lab. And because it’s abandoned and also on a secluded island in the middle of a massive man-made lake, it would be perfect”

Smoker and then turned around, facing the G5 unit

“WE’RE ON THE MOVE, BOYS!! Pack it all up, we’re heading to Punk Hazard!”

“No way, Captain!” argued one of his men “That place is off-limits! Didn’t you know that?”

_ “Don’t tell me what the law is.” _ warned Smoker “Now get this RV moving, you rats!!”

“AYE AYE SIR!”

_ Sorry Ace, guess I’m going to have arrest your little brother _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And voila!
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!
> 
> I want to note that the amount of research I did for this particular sex scene is pretty intense and I'll be discussing it more in details over on the twitter https://twitter.com/madansemacabre which is a new thing I'm going to try out because I don't want to bombard the end notes with research and stuff, so yeah! Feel free to hop over there!
> 
> Also, doing this fic for NaNoWriMo is going super well, I hit 23 380 words today, meaning if all goes well, they'll be a new chapter every Sunday for the rest of the month!


	4. -CORAZON- Jesus of Suburbia (If God Won’t Help the Hopeless, I Will!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go again with another chapter! You should get one next week no problem either! It's already written, just needs to be edited!
> 
> EDIT: Thank you so much Zamia for catching a few typos for me! That's what I get for editing when I'm sick!! Thank you again!

_ “Another kid went missing?” _

The woman in question nodded, tapping her cigarette lightly, letting the ashes flicker in the cold night air – Cora really wanted to offer her his coat because he could see the goosebumps on her bare, exposed skin, _ but considering the woman didn’t even want to give Cora her name _, he wasn’t willing to push

He knew that the woman was working, _ but she just looked so cold damnit! _

“Yeah, Candy’s little girl” started the woman “I know she reported it to the cops like, two weeks ago, to the sheriff if I remember right but the guy didn’t seem to particularly care. Well, _ he pretended he did _, but we working girls know a faker when we see one, you know?”

Cora nodded, taking down notes

“Was he a cop from the Goa District?”

Because if one of his fellow officers was treating a kid going missing with nonchalance_ he was going to have some serious words with someone! _

“No, no, Candy lives in G5” explained the woman “So she had to report it there. She only comes here to work because there’s better clients here”

Cora frowned, his lips pursing. He had heard of the County Sheriff that was in charge of the county called Grand Line. But the 5th branch of the Police Academy was in the nearby town of Grand Line and, hence why everyone called the city G-5, to tell it apart from the county. The sheriff of the county also operated from there and once in a while, Smoker had to go report to him

But everyone had nothing but good things to say about the man, _ especially the new recruits _ . But this was the first time someone said that they seemed fake – _ and frankly Cora was more willing to believe a sex worker’s judge of character than a cop judging one of their own _

“Really? Alright, I’ll try to get the file transferred to me. You’re not the first person to tell me about kids going missing around here”

Him and Tashigi had been working on a case on the side, both of them having noticed how frequently kids have been going missing in the country but they kept hitting roadblocks and not finding any records of the parents having filed any reports!

“Would you, detective? Really?” asked the woman, surprised at the offer

Cora nodded, sighing loudly

“That kid I keep asking you all to look out for? He’s my kid. He went missing and I’m trying to find any signs of him, but since I’m looking, might as well look for the other kids, right?” explained Cora, pushing his hair back

The woman chuckled, clearly now enamoured “Well well, look at you detective, seems like you’re a good man. Hey, _ why don’t we go warm up real quick? _ I’ll be nice, I won’t charge”

_ Excuse me what!? _

“_ Oh no! No thank you! _ You’re a real lovely lady, but I’m not interested!” apologized Cora, bowing deeply “Please don’t be offended! I would like for you to get out of the cold though, so I’ll gladly pay for an hour or two for you and your friends to go warm up for a bit if that would help!”

“Aww, thank you sweetie” said the woman, chuckling as she reached up to pet his head “But I’d feel like I’m taking advantage of you. But you’re real nice to offer”

“Well, if you change your mind, here’s my card” offered Cora, taking his business card out of his pocket and handing it over to her “Also if you hear anything else about people going missing, _ please call me personally _. I’ll make sure it gets looked into”

The woman nodded, slipping the card into her bra, bidding Cora a good night

Cora sighed deeply

_ Another night, another night he wasn’t any closer to finding Law _

Cora continued his nightly parole, trying to keep his mind off everything that was going on, but it was a cool, quiet night and if anything, he was now trapped in his thoughts

The air around the station was really tense since the Captain and Tashigi went on their sting operation. It had been officially two weeks today and to not expose their position, they couldn’t contact the station to tell them they were fine. So everyone was low-key really worried. Also it didn’t help that Ace wasn’t consistently visiting with his bright smile and laugh, making stupid jokes to lighten the mood

Once drunkenly, during a staff bar outing, Smoker had said that Ace was like the sun, and it was always dark and gloomy when the other wasn’t around. _ And right now the station really felt it. _

But also because Law wasn’t coming to the station, neither was Luffy, who was another bright star of a person. _ The city was oddly becoming kinda lonely. _

Cora jumped slightly when he heard a loud crashing noise, distracting him from his thoughts. Turning his head Cora blinked, surprised –_ he was at the high school? _

_ Whoah, what the fuck _

The school seemed to have tripled in size in only a month or so. He also didn’t remember this big gate around the school either?

Cora frowned, crouching down to look carefully at the foundation of the fence. This wasn’t an ordinary fence; _ it looked like some kind of mechanism? _

“HALT!”

Cora jumped, quickly undoing his right shoe, holding onto the lace as he looked surprised at the armed guard looking at him from the other side of the fence

And promptly fell on his face with a loud oof before he got back up

“Oh golly jeez! _ You scared me!” _ Cora smiled brightly, playing up the role of a ditz, thankful that he wasn’t wearing his police jacket

_ Sex Workers don’t like talking openly to cops, _ so he had left it back in the police cruiser

“What are you doing here?!” asked the guard, clearly nervous even though _ he was holding a semi-automatic riffle?! _

_ At a school!? _

“Tying my shoe?” answered innocently Cora, owlishly tipping his head as he bent back down, gesturing to the untied shoe “Is there a problem? Am I not allowed? I’m sorry!”

“Oh” answered the guard, lowering his weapon “No…that’s fine”

“Are you guys doing construction at night? How smart! Not to bother the students!” chattered on Cora, as he slowly tied his shoes

“Yeah, that’s the whole idea” agreed the guard “You can’t stay here though, so I’ll have to ask you to carry on when you’re done tying your shoes”

Cora nodded, smiling brightly “Of course! I’m sorry for bothering you, sir!”

The guard merely nodded and started to walk away. Cora hummed loudly as he kept tying his shoes, waiting for the guard to be out of his sight

Once he was, Cora smirked

_ Idiot _

Within seconds Cora had scaled the fence, jumped over it and landed right on the guard’s back, knocking him to the ground. Before the guard had a chance to make a peep, Cora had hit him across the back of his head with his police issued baton

He knew the Captain would rip his fucking head off when he found out –_ but this was for the good of it all! _

Cora quickly stripped the uniform shirt off the man, gagging him and handcuffed him to the tree behind some bushes

_ He was finally free to investigate the premise! _

Cora quickly slung the semi-automatic around his chest, removing the cartridge and pocketed it. He won’t be able to leave with the gun, but at least he’ll have an idea of what exactly they were using and frankly-_ one less cartridge in their hands the better! _

Since it was night, there wasn’t that much action. It looked like the guard’s job was mostly to make sure that the hired people were working. But Cora quickly noticed something strange – the people working…_ didn’t look like construction workers? _

There were people of all ages and of different body types working and they didn’t seem to be…_ enjoying their time neither _

Cora tried to swallow his horror down his throat when he noticed that everyone working had ‘TOY’ written on their jumpsuits, and frankly_ looked rather drugged and had an ankle bracelet _

_ What the fuck was happening here!? _

He’d have to find out what kind of building permit the school got because this shit looked shady as hell _ and he wasn’t going to stand for this slavery looking situation! _

But he couldn’t help people if he got caught so Cora kept circulating, mentally mapping out the whole premises until he found a safe escape route.

When he was long gone from the site, he’ll draw it out and try to get Bepo to map out what building is what for him

If they needed to raid the place once the Captain was back – it would be useful to have that. But for tonight, it was all Cora was able to do

He quickly stripped the uniform jacket off and hit the semi-automatic with his baton a few times to make sure to break it before he threw it in the garbage bin. Once Cora was done, he rescaled the fence and quickly jogged away from the school 

_ “My my my, are we looking to make a quick buck tonight?” _

Cora blinked, looking up from his legal pad, where he was drafting the school from memory. His drawing was crude as hell but _ he knew that Bepo would make a much better version _

He can’t say he was expecting to come across Ace!

“Isn’t it a bit late?” asked Cora, surprised to see the other out - _ it was like 2am! _

Ace merely shrugged as he wheeled up to the bench Cora was sitting at

_ “Couldn’t sleep” _ admitted Ace

“Well, I wouldn’t mind the company!” offered Cora as he gestured to the end of the bench

Ace chuckled softly, bringing himself to the bench and backing into the spot besides Cora

“How can I say no to such a nice offer? Especially considering you’re trying to steal my man”

_ NO _

“ohmygodthatwasajokepleasedon’tkillme” squeaked Cora, turning white

Ace merely burst out laughing, making Cora sigh in relief

“Relax! I know you’re not that kind of guy!” replied Ace, waving it off “I just heard about it, so I had to tease you next time I saw you!”

“Yeah, it has been two weeks since we’ve seen each other” pointed out Cora, making Ace whine slightly, looking at the ground

_ “Yeah, two long weeks, if you ask me” _

Cora sighed, smiling softly

“How are you holding up?”

“Honestly? I can handle distance. If he had gone to see his aunt or something, whatever. But knowing that he could be dead for all I know and I have no way of knowing really fucking sucks” admitted Ace “I’ve had a bad feeling about this sting ever since he announced it to me and I can’t make it go away”

Cora sighed loudly, pushing his hair back

“Yeah, that makes sense”

“But it’s pretty bold of you to ask me how I’m holding up when Law’s still missing – _ I should ask you how the hell you’re holding up” _

Cora barked a laugh, surprised at how Ace worded it

“Well, can’t say I handled it well at first. Nothing says Guardian of the Year like staying drunk days in a row in front of your remaining ward, but I’m doing better” started Cora, but then he closed his eyes tight

_ That wasn’t quite right _

“I’m worried sick about Law. But I know he can take care of himself in really horrible situations, and I’m sure he had a good reason to run but I didn’t want him to have to deal with really horrible situations, so I feel like…I failed him somehow, you know?” admitted Cora, feeling the tears welling up in his eyes

_ What the hell was with Ace that made this all so easy to admit?! _

“Ah, and you’re pretending that you’re not as much of a wreck about this as you are, huh?”

“Gotta keep it together for Bepo and everyone else, you know?”

“Well, I gotta say that as the champion of doing that, it’s not a good thing to do” offered Ace “Don’t worry, he’ll pop back up, he has no choice really”

Cora blinked, wiping the free falling tears from his eyes

“What do you mean?”

“Luffy and his friends are off to find him this weekend since it’s a three day weekend”

_ “Huh?!” _

“And Luffy’s been checking off all the districts, searching every weekend”

_ “HUH?!” _

“Law’s a real fucking idiot if he thinks he can just dump Luffy over text and think that Luffy isn’t going to track him down and demand an explanation”

“W-What?! _ Luffy doesn’t need to do that!” _

Cora was shocked, unable to deal with the information he had just received

“Man, he even got Sabo to see if they could find out anything. _ Luffy is going to find Law _ , it’s as simple as that. Luffy loves Law with every fiber of his being. _ So do you _ , I’m not saying otherwise, but you have responsibilities to this town and to Bepo. _ Luffy doesn’t. _ And he runs after his instincts and won’t let anybody get in his way”

Cora was stunned

_ All this time, Luffy had been out, actively looking for Law _

“Why…Why didn’t Luffy say anything to me or Bepo about this?” asked Cora

“Knowing Luffy, probably something stupid like ‘I’ll surprise Mister Rosisi by bringing Law home for him!’, he’s kinda simple like that and he really likes you” explained Ace, chuckling

“Shit, to think this whole time I’ve been feeling guilty about not doing more to look for Law to respect his boundaries, and Luffy’s been on a rampage to destroy them this whole time” admitted Cora, in awe at Luffy

“Honestly I’d be more worried about Luffy joining whatever plan Law’s up to. Bottom line is that whatever it is, _ we’re going to hear about it _ for sure. _ Luffy is going to bring down the moon for Law – but he’ll crash it down on the earth first _”

“Imagine if Luffy finds Law at the same place that Smoker’s raiding!” offered Cora hopefully “That way we’ll hear about all three!”

_ It would solve everything! _

Ace groaned loudly, dramatically slapping his hand over his eyes

“_ Please, no _ , anything but that. _ Chase is going to have an aneurysm if that happens _”

Cora laughed brightly, probably for the first time in weeks

_ It’d still be really funny_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IS CORAZON PSYCHIC???
> 
> Naw, we're just going into Punk Hazard baby!


	5. -LAW- It’s Poetry in Motion (Blinding Me with Science)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay!! On Sunday I was having technical issues with my laptop (THE GODDAMN DOWN ARROW DOESN'T WORK! How am I supposed to edit a text?!) and yesteday a03 was down??
> 
> Anywho! I'm being bad and uploading it from work! Enjoy!
> 
> Again! * at the start of a NC-17 scene and * at the end for those who want to skip it!

_ “Shuhohohohoho! I’m so glad you finally decided to take up my offer, Law! You’re going to be such a great asset!” _

Law sighed, pushing his hair back as he carefully mixed the appropriate chemicals together

During the summer break, Law had come to school for the Advanced Chemistry class, wanting to get ahead as much as possible. He hadn’t wanted to get rusty with the summer break and as much as he enjoyed working with the EMTS, there had been ah…_ ulterior motive. _

When Law had worked with Doflamingo, the other had access to a very distinctive drug. It had some sort of mind control aspect to it, not in the hokey hypnosis way, but _ sorta _. If the suggestion was done just right, the person was so disoriented and off their game, that they would obey simply because they didn’t have the mental capacity to continue

Last Law had heard of it, Doflamingo had shelved it. Saying that they didn’t have the capacity to do the suggestion just right, therefore there was no point for them

Well, more like Doflamingo doubted the capacity of his Capos, _ not himself _

But with Law’s akumanomi, he knew he could pull it off – but the problem is that he didn’t have access to it’s formula right now, so he figured that if he could get his chemistry down, when he _ did _ get his hands on it, it wouldn’t be a problem to make it

But Clown Caesar, the teacher of the class, _ had taken a real liking to Law. _

Enough that on the last day, he had offered Law work in his private lab

And it was made clear enough that whatever _ he would be doing would be illegal as hell _

Law’s first instinct was to announce to Caesar that his dad was a cop, but instead he kept quiet

Caesar was shady as fuck and probably had access to things _ he really shouldn’t _ – _ so why should Law refuse such a gift? _

Also he was dumb as bricks, _ so Law knew he could play him like a fucking fiddle _

He had told Caesar at the time that he would have to think about it and Caesar had scrawled his phone number down on a piece of paper, saying that Law could call him on this line if he ever changed his mind

_ And that’s how he found himself on the military research facilities Punk Hazard _

The island was an odd one. A small island in the middle of a giant man-made lake with a single bridge leading to it. It was apparently a massive research facility years ago, _ very active _, until there was an explosion. The island was after declared radioactive and condemned

Originally Law wasn’t sure how he felt about going on a radioactive island, c_ onsidering that radiation sickness sounded really shitty _, especially after going through White Lead Disease, but Caesar had assured him that the island wasn’t actually radioactive

Law had asked him how he was so sure – only for Caesar to tell him that he, himself, had set off the blast on the island. So he knew exactly what compounds were in the explosion – but to keep the people away, Caesar himself had it declared radioactive when he took over the lab

Law had to admit, _ it was borderline brilliant of a plan _

_ “You want to live here?!” _ Caesar had been stunned at Law’s statement

_ “Yes. I need access to the research that’s probably stored on this island and I have personal things I want to develop. As long as I can move freely about the lab and the island, I’ll be happy. In return, I’ll provide you with the assistance you wanted with your work. I won’t ask questions if you won’t” _

_ Caesar had looked at Law, mulling it over _

_ Law knew it was practically a done deal considering the other had already asked for his help _

_ “Also, you will not tell anyone that I’m here. Not my dad, not anyone at school. And that includes Joker” _

_ Law watched carefully as Caesar froze _

_ He knew he was taking a shot in the dark, but it made sense _

_ Especially after his confrontation with Vergo _

_ If someone as shady as Caesar was working at the school – it means he was working for Doflamingo _

_ “You do know more than you let on! Where did you get that information?!” _

_ Jackpot _

_ Which means that the formula in question for the drug was probably here _

_ “Would you rather have an ignorant idiot wandering around here?” _

_ “Shuhohohohoho, good point! Birds of a feather, I supposed! Frankly, I don’t trust you but I don’t see the harm either. My offer was genuine, you seemed like someone that would skirt the law as long as he gained something of it, it seems I was right…But what do you think, Monet?” _

_ If there was someone Law hadn’t been expecting, it had been her _

_ How the fuck she got out of jail and was now roaming free, he had no idea _

_ Monet lifted her head from her work, sitting at one of the tables _

_ “Hmmm? Well, honestly I’m rather surprised to see you here considering…everything that went down. How is Rosinante doing?” _

_ Law pursed his lip _

_ “Fine. But I don’t associate with him anymore. I’m thankful he took care of me for the years he did, but it was naïve of him to think I’d stay on the straight and narrow. You can’t remove blood stains” _

_ Monet chuckled softly _

_ “Hmm, good point. He did seem like a rather charmingly naïve man, unlike his brother. Now, you’re a doctor right? We host a lot of escaped convicts here as workers and a bunch of them have been crippled by poison gas. Can you heal them?” _

_ Law nodded _

_ “Yeah. I’ll do what I can” _

_ “Then I don’t see a problem” confirmed Monet “And if he gets out of line, we can just kill him” _

_ “What if he kills us first?” _

_ “…I have a solution for that” offered Law _

And it had worked

For nearly a month now, he had been working at the lab

And exactly like he had hoped, _ Caesar did have the formula for the drug _. Law had worked diligently on it, tweaking it to make sure it was perfect

At night, he went out to the neighboring towns to try it out and it worked like magic!

He had convinced _ 100 suspected criminals to go turn themselves in _, utterly convinced that Law had stolen their hearts

And soon enough, he was declared a Warlord, _ which Law happily accepted _

Now he knew that the law would leave him alone and also as a Warlord, the government couldn’t hand him over or any information about him over to Cora

_ So Cora would be safe _

He knew deep down that Cora would be extremely disappointed in him if he knew that he was running around drugging people and making drugs – _ but this was for the greater good _

Law had a plan and he was going to see it through, _ no matter what _

While working at the lab, Law found out that his job was to help make SAD which was the main component of the SMILE drug

Which like Law suspected, _ was being made for Doflamingo _

Law smirked to himself,_ just the idea of sabotaging Doflamingo from the inside thrilled him _

Also while he was here, he managed to get his hands on the materials he needed to build another contraption that he was hoping he could use when the time was right

_ “Law! There’s an intruder! Go deal with it!” _

Law sighed, taking his nodachi and standing up, _ he had work to do _

Law wasn’t sure what the hell had just happened

This man dressed like samurai was on the island, screaming something about getting a little boy back

_ There was no kids on this island?! _

Law had quickly drugged the man, cut him slightly with his nodachi and convinced the man that he had been cut into pieces

_ That his limbs were scattered around the island _

The effects of the drugs would las_ t at least 2 _ 4 hours, so Law knew that this man would either get off the island, _ if he was smart _ , or perish in the water, _ if he was dumb _

Either way,_ it wasn’t a problem for him anymore _

Making his way back to the lab, Law went right to his room, exhausted by the events of today

Between making SAD,_ wrapping fifty million candies for god knows what reason _, his own testing and research at night, he was running on pure fumes

And frankly, _ he missed everyone a lot _

As much as Law was telling himself that he was doing this for Cora’s own safety and protection _ – he was missing his life back in Goa _

_ He especially really missed Luffy _

He missed Luffy’s laugh, his smile, his smell, his warm, constant hugs

But also his kisses, his body and _ how it felt inside of Luffy _

Law grunted, annoyed, _ he was pent up _

_ How dare his body was betray his perceived nonchalance?! _

He gazed towards the door, considering it quietly

On the other hand, he was alone in a rather isolated wing and frankly maybe if he rubbed one out, _ he’d sleep better tonight _ . Orgasm were a known method to help someone go to sleep so _ what was the harm? _

_ Not like he needed to go out tonight _\- clearly his drug Shambles worked well, so he didn’t have to push himself so hard on that end

Also the tests he did on his heart contraption worked as well, Law has been thinking of the name Scalpel for it, _ so maybe he should reward himself with some proper sleep? _

Now convinced of his new plan, Law shrugged off his thick black coat, draping it on the chair in the corner of his room. Law then kicked off his boots and socks and placed his hat carefully on the desk. Then he quickly pushed down his jeans and removed his shirt, placing them all over the coat

Clad only in his black boxer briefs, Law made his way to his bed and laid on his back on the warm comforter, closing his eyes

He couldn’t just jump into it, he wasn’t that type of guy

He needed some sort of..._ scenario or something _

Law grunted as he scrambled through his ideas, trying to come up with an idea and _ was suddenly struck with the idea of Samurais _

Luffy would look really cool in a kimono. Knowing him, it would probably be red with patches or something, looking ragged as he usually does. Himself, it would be black, with yellow, and with his symbol all over it, wearing a cool jittoku on his shoulders. Like the cool one he saw in that museum! He’d be a roaming doctor or something. Luffy would have a cute top knot on his head too. Why they meet up doesn’t matter, all that matters is that due to some shenanigans involving Luffy trying to help someone, fighting against a corrupt government probably, and they found themselves hiding in a decrepit building, adrenaline pumping through both of them

_ “That was so cool!” Luffy would say in awe at Law’s capacity to take down his opponents _

_ Law wouldn’t admit it, but Luffy’s actions has thrilled him as well _

_ “Even though I can’t believe the chaos you caused, you did the right thing, Luffy” _

Law smirked to himself, liking where the scenario was going, clearly remembering all the times Luffy had put him in situations just like it

With one hand, Law pushed his boxers down his thighs, the other hand digging inside the drawer to his side, grabbing the bottle of lotion he kept there

It wasn’t lube, but it would do

_ “You were just so cool” repeated Luffy as he crawled up to Law, pushing the jittoku jacket off his shoulders, it falling to the somehow clean tatami matts underneath them _

_ “Yeah?” replied Law, smirking, as he started to undo Luffy’s obi “Gonna show me how much I impressed you?” _

*

Law grunted as he poured a generous amount of lotion in his hand and slowly started to pump his half-hard dick

_ Luffy didn’t even bother undoing Law’s obi, simply pushing his kimono off his shoulders and lunged towards Law, devouring Law’s lips in a passionate kiss _

_ Law eagerly kissed Luffy back, pushing his kimono off his shoulders as they kept kissing. Luffy started to lean back, Law following along. Once Luffy was on his back, he spread his legs wide, inviting Law inbetween _

_ “I want you so bad, Torao!” _

Law let out a gasp as he stroked himself faster and faster. He curled his hand around the head of his cock, making sure his calloused thumb grazed the tip

_ Now on his back, Luffy’s loin cloth was quickly removed as they kept devouring each other’s mouths. _

_ “T-Torao! Please! I can’t wait anymore!” _

_ Law reached between his legs, breaking the kiss to quickly undo his own loin cloth, shifting the okumi aside to give himself the space _

_ Law hadn’t figured out where they had gotten the lube, but Luffy was quickly prepped, Law enjoying the sight of his tattooed fingers going in and out of Luffy, who was mewling, begging for Law _

_ “Please please please Torao! I want you! Law! Please!” _

Law shifted on the bed, turning around to kneel on the bed, his hand still consistently pumping himself, holding himself up with the other arm as he moaned softly

It was always so hot when Luffy used his name in bed

_ Pushing himself into Luffy, the other let out a cry of pure joy. _

_ Even though Luffy was extremely flexible and the elasticity of his skin was incredible, making the prep really easy, he was somehow always really tight inside _

_ Law started to thrust inside with vigor, knowing exactly what angle to go at it for Luffy to feel the absolute best _

_ Since they’ve started sleeping together, Law had learned that if Luffy wanted something done a certain way, he was vocal about it _

_ Sex wasn’t any different _

_ It was a bit frustrating at first, but soon enough, Law knew exactly what to do to drive Luffy absolute wild _

_ Without warning, Luffy shifted his legs around Law’s thighs and sprung them around Law’s shoulders _

_ “Right there! Right there!” _

_ Luffy was now bent in half as Law kept thrusting into him _

_ “Touch yourself!” suggested Law “Show me how you make yourself feel good” _

_ Luffy reached between his legs, grabbing his neglected throbbing dick, a moan erupting between his lips as Law leaned down to capture them in a passionate kiss _

_ Luffy was a greedy kisser, always wanting more and more, and Law was always willing to reciprocate it, enough that when they would start kissing, they were soon both dizzy from lack of oxygen every single time _

Law was ridiculously close and he knew it 

His face was flushed, panting hard as he kept stroking himself, close to completion. He missed Luffy so much and his mind was whirling with the scenario, hitting every one of his sweet spots

Law gave his hard dick a few more strokes before he came in his hand and on the sheets, calling out Luffy’s name, in his mind, he came into Luffy

* 

Law sat back on his feet, trying to catch his breath, already feeling the tension drain from him with the orgasm that just ripped into him

_ Worked like a charm every single time _, he was ready to fall into a deep sleep until morning

Suddenly there was a knock on Law’s door, making him jump 

Law quickly pulled up his boxers, quickly wiping his hands on the sheet and jumped out of the bed opening the door slightly, to stare right at a pleased Monet

_ “What?” _

“Are you naked? My, my, Law, you have filled out considerably since I last saw you years ago” asked Monet, gasping softly as she tried to peek in

“No. I’m trying to go to sleep, what the hell do you want?” replied Law, irritated

He was finally sleepy! _ He just wanted to sleep! _Not have this woman with her creepy bird prosthetics disrupt him!

“How odd, you usually sneak out at night to go do more of your trials. I was wondering if you were going to do the same tonight or should I just lock up?”

“Lock up. I’m going to bed”

“Do you want company? _ You seem ready for it _” offered Monet, a cat-eating-canary smile on her face 

_ “No.” _replied curtly Law

“Ahh, you sure know how to hurt a girl, Law” replied Monet, sighing slightly “On the other hand, _ I’m not Luffy _” 

Law’s eyes widen in horror as he threw the door open, taking a step towards Monet

_ Did she hear him!? _

_ “Why the hell are you saying that?!” _

“Oh? Did I hit a nerve, Law? It’s nothing much honestly, I just distinctively remember you two being sweet on each other in class” explained Monet

Law exhaled slightly

_ Great, now all the sleepiness was gone_

_ “Don’t remember such useless shit” _ replied Law, turning to go back into his room

“Hmm, nice ass. Usually can’t see it with that coat of yours”

_ “Bye Monet” _ replied Law, going into his room and closing the door, making sure to latch the door tight

_ Fuck he couldn’t wait until he took this whole place down _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're back to Smoker for the next chapter! 
> 
> One thing I want to note, there will be no consistent lengths for this part! I write until the scene is done, so some of the chapters are pretty big, heads up! 
> 
> (And enjoy the Wano themed shenanigans since I won't be going there with this fic!)


	6. -SMOKER- Ding Dong, Avon Calling! (It’s the Fucking Cops, Open Up!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I looked into it - because of NaNoWrimo, there should be a chapter every week until March! So that's fun!

“Uh, how are we going to get on the island without being seen?”

Smoker raised a brow, turning to look at his officer

_ “We ain’t” _

While trying to get to Punk Hazard Island, they’ve encountered every kind of Road Runner type scheme to try to hide the island

From fake walls, fake mountains, fake trees,  _ the whole nine yards _

Frankly it was all beyond stupid and it took the simplest deduction technique to figure out that it was all fake, from the shadow and lights not being correct, the moss growing on the wrong side and more, that Smoker was convinced that either whoever concocted all of this crap either assumed they were smarter than everyone else and that nobody would figure it out or they honestly thought that everyone was that dumb to fall for all of these

…Actually considering that most of his officers had fallen for the stunts, maybe he was smarter than he thought he was

_ Or they’re just a bunch of idiots _

_ Yeah, option two _

“Is it just me, or is the air really thick?”

Smoker nodded, handing a gas mask to Tashigi who gladly took it

“The gas is too thick. Aside from the weather getting all messed up from the explosion four years ago and the recent volcanic explosion, everything else should have cleared by now” explained Smoker

“The island is radioactive, isn’t it?” asked Tashigi, clearly worried

“No, that’s a ruse” admitted Smoker “I suspected as much considering never was the amount of uranium delivered in the capacity needed to make anything radioactive was delivered to this research facility. Also the signs only went up maybe a year or so ago. And logistically, it doesn’t make sense for the government to suddenly think somewhere that supposedly had a nuclear explosion is only  _ now r _ adioactive, three years down the road. Also Kuzan confirmed it for me when he had to come here when it was to be decided who would take over the World Government forces” explained Smoker

_ Also he had a radioactivity scanner on since yesterday and it hadn’t as much as registered a peep _

“…speaking of Kuzan…any news?”

Smoker sighed, shaking his head

After it was decided that  _ fucking Sakazuki _ would take over the forces, Kuzan immediately quit, earning him the title of Dishonorable Discharged, stripping him of his rank and such and  _ Kuzan simply disappeared _ . Smoker had heard rumours of him joining the Blackbeard Gang, but he was holding onto the hope that it wasn’t true

He’d like to think his old friend was much better than that

_ Also there’s no way he could invite him to the wedding if he was associating with the person who did such horrible things to do Ace and was directly responsible for him nearly getting killed _

Ace had told Smoker everything that had happened during his hunt for Blackbeard to getting onto the scaffold 

_ He was going to rip Blackbeard into pieces if he ever saw the fucking piece of shit again _

“No. But sometimes no news is good news. He’ll turn up, he’s always been a bit of a vagrant” answers Smoker, looking through his binoculars “Make sure everyone has a mask on before we enter the smoke dome”

“Smoker…is it safe? That volcano exploded only a week ago” muttered Tashigi, clearly worried

“ _ We’re going in, Tashigi _ ” stressed Smoker, not leaving any room for debate

“Yes sir!”

As they started to drive down the long singular bridge leading to the island, Smoker could clearly see the tension mounting in his officers

“The island is covered in gas!  _ You actually think people live here?!  _ You’d have to wear a gas mask all the time!”

“The person on the transmission we picked up said the name of the island” pointed out Tashigi

“We musta misheard it, Tashigi! I mean, look at this place!” said the office, gesturing “Anything on this island would just shrivel up and die!”

The officers started laughing, agreeing

“Stop laughing and pay attention!” stated Tashigi sternly, making Smoker well up slightly with pride

He’s glad that she’s learned to put her foot down and take charge over the last two years or so. Smoker always had faith in Tashigi’s abilities to lead, and he was glad that Tashigi herself was finally able to see it herself

_ Being constantly exposed to Hina must have helped too _

Smoker grunted, annoyed, of course a massive snow storm had also started this morning, making it difficult to clearly see anything,  _ gas aside _

He really hoped that Ace had made sure that all the windows upstairs were closed and latched up, Smoker didn’t want him getting sick when he wasn’t around

_ Did he also get the thick comforters out? On the other hand, Ace had insanely hot body heat, so maybe he would be fine? _

Smoker shook his head slightly, putting on his own gas mask, he needed to stop thinking of Ace and think of himself and his officers

Once they reached the actual island, wheels of the police RV finally on solid land, Smoker looked around shocked

There was no gas?!

Signaling to his men to hold off first, Smoker removed his own mask, knowing that his akumanomi gave him a much stronger tolerance to smoke, therefore, he was much better at detecting it

“There’s no gas here? Whatsoever?” confirmed Smoker as everyone took off their own masks

“How is that possible?!” asked one of the officers

“I don’t believe it…There’s really no gas here!”

“What was with all that poison gas earlier?!”

“Someone clearly doesn’t want us here” replied Smoker “Now park the RV there. I see the entrance up ahead. We’ll go check what’s up. But get changed and ready for the weather! We might be here for a while” ordered Smoker as he put on a thicker coat himself over his shoulders

Even though Smoker knew that he should be more professional about this, he didn’t feel like suffocating in his police shirt and quickly unbuttoned it completely, opening it. With his fur lined leather jacket and his thick coat on his shoulders,  _ he should be fine _

Smoker climbed out of the RV to Tashigi giving him a surprised up and down, clearly she didn’t agree with the look, but merely sighed, keeping her comments to herself

_ Good _

Walking up to the building, the crunching of the snow made Smoker raise a brow – something about this snow sounded… _ off _

_ Was it fake at the base? _ So far much of the area of this island had a lot of fake elements to it, so at this point he wouldn’t be surprised

Smoker led the group to the main entrance, standing in front of the door and started to ring the doorbell

“Shouldn’t we…uh…be hiding?” asked Tashigi quietly, Smoker merely shook his head

“No. We have no warrant and we also don’t have authorization to be on the island. So the less we break the rules, the less paperwork I’ll have to deal with.” admitted Smoker

If the occupants of the lab were legally placed Government agents, Smoker already had some hokey ‘apology’ ready, saying something along the lines of ‘oh, we were worried you weren’t informed of the island’s current unstable conditions and wanted you to be aware and blah blah blah’ something about being there for the occupant’s own good or something

_ Bzzzt _

_ Bzzzt _

_ Bzzzt _

_ Bzzzt _

“Let’s blast this door down with a battering ram and get some answers, Captain! C’mon Smoker!!”

_ Bzzzt _

_ Bzzzt _

_ Bzzzt _

“STOP BEIN’ POLITE AND RINGING THE DOORBELL!! THEY’RE TOO SCARED TO ANSWER!”

_ Bzzzt _

_ Bzzzt _

_ Bzzzt _

“This island is off limits!! Anyone squatting here ends up being hauled off in chains, so come out and get what’s coming to ya!!”

_ Bzzzt _

_ Bzzzt _

_ Oh- _

Suddenly the massive front door of the lab started to creak, opening for the first time in god only knows with a loud gruunk sound

_ “Oh…it’s opening!” _

_ “Ya finally gave up and surrendered to the mighty Goa police force!!” _

Smoker internally rolled his eyes, annoyed at the peanut gallery’s free comments

“This is my mansion now” said the occupant, leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed “What do you want, White Chase Smoker?”

_ It was motherfucking L- _

“LAW TRAFALGAR?!” screeched his men, taking a step back “THE NEWLY MINTED WARLORD!”

_ “I heard he took the hearts of 100 criminals and sent it to the World Government!” _

_ “He’s a madman!” _

_ “This guy’s a freak!!” _

Smoker was _ seething _

Not only had this kid somehow gotten himself the title of warlord, is now trespassing on Government propriety

_ He had the galls to just casually lean against the doorframe, knowing how much pain and suffering he’s putting Rosinante through _

Smoker wasn’t the type that believed in spanking children

But right now?  _ That’s exactly what this kid deserved for hurting Rosinante so much _

“This island is off-limits, Law… _ That include Government men” _

Smoker carefully picked his words, making sure that Law knew that he knew of his Warlord title

“Then it applies to you too” casually replied Law, smirking slightly

_ Yeah, Smoker was going to throttle this brat _

“You have a lot of nerve -!” started Tashigi, clearly furious herself but Smoker lifting his arm, gesturing her to hold back

“Listen, Trafalgar. I don’t know what the fuck you’re up to, _ I’m not even asking. _ But we intercepted a transmission of someone asking for help and that’s why we’re here. I think it’s for your benefit as well to listen to this transmission before you open your yap again and say something stupid”

Law paused, raising a brow slightly

“Fine. I’ll listen”

Smoker reached into his pocket and pulled out the small recording device and hit play, letting the whole recording go

Clearly he knew that Law probably didn’t give a shit about the call for help,  _ but Smoker was expecting to get a reaction out of the other if he knew that Luffy was on the island _

_ “…Punk Hazard ARRGHH!” _

“The name of the island, the reference to cold…I think it’s pretty clear that the voice on the call was coming from this island, don’t you?” asked Tashigi

“And don’t play dumb,  _ we both know you know Luffy” _ started Smoker “Personal information aside, you fought together during the affair at Sabaody and you helped him escape during the…Paramount Siege”

Smoker bristled slightly, hating calling  _ The Incident _ by it’s legal name

“What do you want? Don’t try to tell me that falsified s.o.s. messages aren’t the oldest cop trick in the book.” started Law, rolling his eyes  _ “And using Luffy to do is dirty _ ”

“Sorry, but that recording isn’t a trap on our part” admitted Smoker

_ Why was this dumb brat being so difficult?! _

“I’m not convinced and I don’t know anything about this either.  _ This conversation is over _ ”

“Don’t waste my time with evasive answers!” barked Smoker “Show me inside the lab!”

“It’s my vacation home now” stated Law, glaring at Smoker “ _ And no! _ The government abandoned this island. Why can’t a thug like me do what I wish with it? I’m the only one here. And if Luffy makes his way here,  _ I’ll send him right back to Goa. _ Is that all you wanted? Now leave. I came here to be alone”

Smoker frowned, trying to get a read of Law

There was something… _ off _

He couldn’t quite put his finger on it but either Law was lying or it was something else…

_ “AAAHHHHH” _

Smoker jumped slightly at the scream coming from inside of the lab

_ What the fuck?! _

_ “THOSE FROZEN ONES WERE SO SCARY!!” _

_ “WAAAHH” _

That sounded like… _ children?! _

Law turned his head slightly, looking behind him, Smoker didn’t miss the look of confusion that quickly ran by his face

“Huh?! There IS someone in there!!” yelled one of the police officers

Suddenly, a group of people burst through the door behind Law, the other barely able to move out of the way before the group came crashing out of the door

It was…

_ Luffy’s goddamn friends _

“HACHAA!! WE’RE OUTSIDE!” yelled the little one that usually wore a pink hat

“We’re out- WE’RE COLD!”

_ WAS THAT BELLEMERE’S DAUGHTER?! What the fuck was she doing in a bikini top in a snowstorm?! _

“The Strawhats!” exclaimed Tashigi, as stunned as Smoker was

_ “We did it!” _

_ “We’re out of the building! We can go home!” _

_ “I can see mommy and daddy again!” _

_ “It’s so cold!” _

Smoker gawked horrified at the odd amalgamation of children in front of him

_ Some of them were…massive??  _ Clearly their genetics had been messed with to give them so form of gigantism?!

But honestly it was hard to concentrate with the kids singing along with that blue haired man

“AHH IT’S LAW!” yelled the little kid with the hat

“Are you the one who locked these kids up?!  _ What the fuck, Law! _ You’re evil scum! Well, you’re not getting them back or going anywhere near Luffy either!” yelled Nami at Law, who merely leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed,  _ trying really hard to pretend that Nami’s words weren’t cutting deep _

“It’s Smoker?! And his cutie of a companion!” yelled Red Leg Zeff’s ward

“Children?” asked Tashigi quietly, stunned  _ “Why is there children here?” _

“Damn! I didn’t expect to run into the cops!” started Sanji _ …was it? _ “TURN BACK! LET’S FIND A DIFFERENT EXIT!”

“EVERYONE INSIDE!”

_ “WAHH! How come?! Aren’t the police the good guy?!” _

_ “Good point! Go with them!” _

_ “No! They look like gangsters!” _

And the whole group ran back inside the lab

There was a moment of tense silence, nobody really understanding what just happened

_ “So much for being alone!”  _ barked Smoker, furious

Kidnapped children?!  _ He had KIDNAPPED CHILDREN!? _

“Yeah…” started Law, looking like he didn’t know his right from his left right now “I’m just as shocked as you are”

“C’mon! We have to rescue those kids!” yelled Tashigi, the other officers raising their weapons, ready to fight

_ “C’mon! LET’S GO!” _

“NO!! Stop!!” yelled Smoker

_ Shit! Do they not know how Law fights?! _

“Just great! That’s exactly the kind of complications I didn’t need!” yelled Law, suddenly holding out his closed fist

Smoker saw him squeeze it slightly

“I can’t let you leave the island now _ . I’m sorry for saying nobody else was here” _ Smoker frowned, confused at the odd admission of guilt, when suddenly there was a loud explosion behind him

Smoker turned around, gawking

His time in the Marines had shown him exactly what an IED explosion looked like, Smoker looked stunned as he saw the police RVS explode, _ flying through the air _

_ “AHHH THIS GUY IS BAD NEWS!” _

“STAY BACK!” ordered Smoker

_ Did the kid rig the island?! _

“Don’t try anything with him! There’s no telling what he’ll do!” ordered Smoker as he pulled out his jitte, ready to fight

This was a worst case scenario if he ever saw one

He knows he teased to Rosinante that he was going to bring back his boy in cuffs

_ But now it looks like it’s actually what was going to happen _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the doorbell scene always fucking kills me, ngl


	7. -CORAZON- It’s Like Tom Sawyer and the Fence - But Way More Dangerous!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annd back to Cora! We gotta know what's going on in Goa, right? Right?

_ “ACHOO!” _

“Oof, that was a loud one, Rosi! Are you getting sick?”

Cora blinked, surprised at how loud his own sneeze was. He wasn’t one that easily sneezed, so it took him by surprise. Shaking his head, he waved off Bellemere

“No? I feel perfectly fine? I guess someone is just talking about me!” teased Cora, grinning “I hope it’s good things!”

“Who can ever say anything bad about you, Rosi?” 

“Gooosshh, Bellemere, staawwp it” 

“Cora?”

Cora blinked, craning his neck slightly to look over the front desk at Bepo who was bashefully trying to clearly not be a bother

Honestly Cora found it really cute that at his towering height and large presence that Bepo always tried to not be a bother

Well, mostly cute because Bepo acting all sheepish was cute, _ but not cute because Bepo has the right to all the space he wants and should be more confident!! _

_ Regardless _

“CORA!” cried out Shachi and Penguin as they popped out from behind Bepo, making Cora laugh

_ Oh that’s why Bepo was nervous! _

Pfft these kids

“Thank you for coming!” announced Cora brightly before tripping on the end of the desk and slamming right to the ground

Well, that was ..._ something _

“Cora?! Are you okay?!” cried out Bepo as he ran behind the counter, Penguin and Shachi following, to go check up on Cora who was slowly getting up

He was getting too old for this

_ Clearly his mother was just being nice when she said he’d grow out of being so clumsy _

“Ahh, I’m fine, I’m fine” assured Cora as he pushed his hair back

“I think if Rosi doesn’t trip over his own desk at least once a day, it’ll bring bad luck to the station” teased Bellemere, grinning

“Well that can’t be right! What happens on days I’m not here?!” pointed out Cora, pouting

“_Tashigi _ ” replied everyone in the office in unison, _ including Wiper, dang _

“Wow, you all suck and now have made me look totally uncool in front of Bepo and _ now I’ll never recover _”

“Cora, you’ve done waaay more embarrassing things” pointed out Bepo, frowning, clearly confused as everyone laughed

_ BEPO _

_ MY ONLY ALLY _

“Wow...Thrown under the bus” fake cried Cora, pretending to hold a handkerchief to his eyes “Now come along, let’s go to the conference room _ before my reputation is tarnished further! _”

“Byyyee Rosi” replied Bellemere as Cora chartered the boys to the private conference room

_ “Huh. I thought we were going to that interrogation room?” _

Cora blinked at Shachi’s question as he pulled out three chairs for them

“Why? You’re not suspects?” 

“Because it would have been cool and like on tv?” offered Penguin as he sat down, Bepo following suite

“So why did you want to see us today, Cora? Not that we mind of course! It’s just unusual for you to ask us to come here instead of meeting up at home!” 

“Oh, because these documents can’t leave the office!” admitted Cora as he held up a few manilla folders and sat down “I kiiiinnda stol- _ Borrowed them _from the Captain’s office”

_ “Bad Cora!” _ chided Bepo as he snickered 

“Hey hey!_ I needed them _! He wasn’t there! What the hell was I supposed to do?” asked Cora, pretending to be offended

“So what’s in the folders?”

“Well, first things first” started as he pulled out his notepad and ripped out the first page, holding it out for Bepo “Think you could reproduce this into an actual map?” 

Bepo frowned slightly, taking the piece of paper, looking it over

Cora blinked -_ when did Bepo paint his nails black? _

“Oh! This is the school, isn’t it?” exclaimed Bepo, proudly 

“How is that the school?” asked Shachi, looking over Bepo’s shoulder “What are those weird circle things?”

“It looks like what they’re building in the back” explained Bepo “I noticed their odd shape one day when I was hanging out on the roof” 

Cora raised a brow, frowning slightly

He didn’t know Bepo hung out alone sometimes - _ he thought the other was always with Shachi and Penguin _

“Ooh, that’s what you were looking at!” said Penguin, snapping his fingers

“Yeah, you two were napping!” rebutted Bepo

“You could have napped too!” pointed out Shachi, in their defense

“Someone had to keep guard! _ You forget that we’re not allowed on the roof!” _

Cora exhaled, less worried now

“Alright, school rule breaking aside” continued Cora, waving his hand to wave off the topic “ I need you guys to help me be the eyes on the inside” 

The trio blinked, looking at Cora confused

“Whadayamean?” asked Shachi, crossing his arms and tipping his head

“Okay, so I have a lot of reason to believe that the Doflamingo gang infiltrated the school”’

“_ WHAT?! _” screamed all three, clearly shocked

“What makes you think this, Cora?!” asked Bepo, stunned

“A bunch of little things. But mostly because I’ve done some on-site investigating myself last night and something about the place is really off, there has to be some sort of gang element” admitted Cora, frowning

“But why the Doflamingo gang specifically?” asked Penguin

_ “Because why else would Law run if it wasn’t them” _ finished Bepo

Cora beamed, proud to see all the gears falling into place for Bepo

“Exactly!_ Now you’re thinking with portals!” _

_ “Wow that was dated, Cora _ ” mumbled Bepo, _ looking almost ashamed of him?! _

_ Bepo nooo! _

“So, _ my insulted pride aside _, I know I have no business delegating you guys different jobs because I’m not the leader of your gang, but may I?”

Bepo blinked, surprised

“Of course, Cora! And besides, _ I’m the second in command anyways _, so I’ll authorise you!”

Cora grinned brightly

“Okay! Job number one! I need this map not only authenticated to scale but with as much detail as possible about each room. If we need to plan for an operation, we need as much of an upper hand as possible”

“Got it!”

“Also” started Cora as he pulled out two pictures from the manilla folder, placing it on the table in front of the trio, pictures facing them “I need you three to be on look out for these two”

“Ohh she’s cute!” replied Shachi, letting out a wolf-whistle

“Wait, I’ve seen her around” pointed out Penguin “Guys are always swarming her, but I think she’s a first year?” 

_ Jackpot! _

“Who is she?” asked Bepo, frowning at the picture 

“This is Baby 5, Doflamingo Gang associate, class-A Assassin under the Pica’s army” explained Cora

_ “Wow, she’s suddenly really uncute _” replied Shachi, frowning

“She can kill me if she wants” stated Penguin with a grin on his face

Cora gawked at Penguin horrified

_ Puberty makes boys stupid, holy shit _

“Also, if you can look out for these people,” said Cora as he started to put a handful of pictures in front of the boys

“Okay, these guys look like so many of our new teachers! Are they more Doflamingo people?!” exclaimed Penguin, now clearly getting scared

“Yeah. All of these are high ranking capos” confirmed Cora, frowning_ “And they’re all your new teachers?!” _

“Well sorta. Like, none of us actually have classes with them” explained Penguin

“We just kinda see them in the hallways. This one” continued Bepo as he pointed to a picture “Has a reaaaally squeaky voice. But the last person who made fun of him had his head put into the concrete”

Cora looked at Bepo, horrified

“Like..you heard this or”

“Oh no, Cora. Like_ there’s a physical hole in the wall right by the gym where the guy’s head was slammed into it. _Nobody has seen the kid since and like, this guy’s still going around the school” explained Bepo

Cora felt his stomach drop

_ How has this slipped through the cracks?! _

“Fuck...I wasn’t quick enough”

“Cora! Don’t blame yourself! You’re doing something now!” pointed out Bepo, frowning “We’ll find you as much info as we can on people and bring Law home!” 

“Huh?” 

_ What was that last part _

“This will bring Law home, right?” asked Bepo

_ And there it was _

Bepo looked exhausted and miserable in that single moment, so did Shachi and Penguin, dropping their happy kids facade 

“If I’m right about this, Law’s gonna come back on his own. Because these are his targets. Doflamingo is somewhere here. But it probably caught Law by surprised so he needed to pull back, re-strategize, and then he’ll be back for his attack” explained Cora, grinning “So let’s do the footwork for him, that way he’ll be ready”

“I thought you didn’t want him fighting Doflamingo?” asked Bepo, frowning

“I really don’t” admitted Cora, sighing _ “But it’s inevitable. _Law’s going to do it no matter what, especially since Doflamingo is after him”

Cora then stood up, slamming his hand on the table 

“But I don’t want you boys to take any unnecessary risks! I don’t want to worry your parents or have to worry about you guys more than I usually do!”

“Oh, that’s not an issue, Cora” explained Shachi, pointing to Penguin “We’re both orphans and I don’t think my aunt or uncle really care, they’re only fostering us for the money. They don’t actually give a fuck about us”

_ Huh _

_ HUH _

“HUH?! But you told me you had parents!! I remember!” 

_ What the fuck?! _

“Yeah, Law told us not to tell you because he said that you’d try to adopt us too” explained Penguin, chuckling “And even though, how possessive Law is of you is_ funny as hell _, we didn’t feel like bringing forth his wrath, y’know?” 

Cora’s face turned completely red, unsure how to take the information he was given

_Because screw you Law, he totally would have adopted them if he knew they didn’t have good homes!!_

“How come you’re telling me now then?!” asked Cora

“Because Law hurt us by running off like that,” explained Shachi, crossing his arms “We’re friends, we’re a gang, we have his back! And yet he just ran off, keeping us out of the loop! _ We’re pissed! _ So me and Penguin decided that we’d tell you the first chance we got! _ As revenge! _”

Cora snorted, as revenge goes, _ it’s pretty tame _, but he liked the sentiment

“Well, if we’re punishing Law like this. As far as I’m concerned, you two are welcomed in our home whenever!”

“We already are, Cora!” replied Penguin, grinning “But thanks!”

“I’d adopt you both but there’s only a few months until you’re legal and I think the paperwork would take longer to process” admitted Cora, frowning

“Ooh, we should do it! _ All become Trafalgars! _”

“Guys, no, Jean Paul would get jealous” pointed out Bepo

_ “I’ll adopt him too!” _ declared Cora, making everyone laugh

“But honestly! Stay out of danger! And if you hear anymore stories or rumours, let me know right away! The faster we can send some of authorities involved, the better” 

“Authorities? _ Are you gonna tell Sengoku? _” asked Bepo as he stood up with the two others

“Uh..._ I haven’t decided _”

Oh one hand, implying Sengoku would be a good idea because of the pull he had with the World Government still

On the other hand, he’d also have Cora locked up and hidden away if it was revealed that Doflamingo was in the city, _ which would interfere with his work now _

“Haven’t decided?” parroted Bepo, surprised

“Maybe later in the game. Not now. I don’t want to worry him over a hunch, you know?”

“You should ask Luffy’s grandpa!” 

“Over my dead body, Bepo. I don’t want Hurricane Monkey anywhere near this plan” replied Cora as he lead the boys out of the room 

_ “Honestly I’d be more worried about Luffy joining whatever plan Law’s up to. Bottom line is that whatever it is, we’re going to hear about it. Luffy is going to bring down the moon for Law – but he’ll crash it down on the earth first” _

Cora froze as Ace’s words echoed through his head

_ Luffy _

_ How would he figure in all of this? Luffy’s too much of a wildcard - would Law really risk involving him? _

“Cora?” asked Bepo, trying to figure out why Cora merely stopped mid-movement

“A-Ah, sorry, I just thought of something! Anyways Bepo, here’s my credit card!” exclaimed Cora as he pulled out his card from his wallet, handing it over to Bepo “Go buy yourself supper with it! Thank you again for wasting your Saturday on me!” 

“It’s never a waste to see you, Dad!” replied Shachi, grinning

“Yeah Pops! We’ll always stop by for you!” agreed Penguin

Cora looked at them stunned as all the officers stood from their desks, to look at Cora, shocked

_ “Rosinante Trafalgar! Did you adopt more kids?! _” asked Bellemere, stunned 

“...You ain’t the boss of me!” merely replied Cora, playfully glaring as he pointed at Bellemere 

“We’ll see you at home!” said Bepo as the trio quickly scrambled out of the office, leaving Cora to deal with the mess they caused

Once the teasing had died down, Cora returned to the meeting room and closed the door, locking it behind him

Another benefit of this room was that the phone line here was untraceable and utterly private

Cora quickly dialed a number and held the receiver to his ear, waiting for it to be picked up

_ “Hello? Mayor Iceburg’s office” _

“Hello, this is Detective Rosinante Trafalgar. Would the Mayor have a quick moment for a question?”

_ “Ahh..let me go check” _

Cora paused, waiting for the line to be picked up

_ “Nmmaa, what is it?” _ Cora rolled his eyes at the obvious dunce act that the other was putting on

“Hello Iceburg, I was wondering if I could arrange a private meeting with you?”

_ “About what? I don’t like shady deals” _

“Oh! No! Nothing like that! It’s just I noticed that Goa High has been going through a lot of...renovations lately” 

_“Hmph, you’re starting to sound like him”_ stated Iceburg, surprising Cora - _who’s him?!_ _“Are you still associated with the World Goverment?”_

“Oh hell no! I got booted out so fast when they found out everything I tried to do to fuck up their execution of Ace, also I arrested Akainu so, we’re not friends” confirmed Cora

_ “Oh! Good. Anyways, nmma I’m gonna need some time to put together all the paperwork and gather some evidence. I also thought about what was going on was...not right...at Goa High, but I was afraid that the World Government had their hands in it” _ admitted Iceburg _ “It looks like I have a free slot on Monday night. We can meet at his shop. It’s isolated and quiet” _

_ Jackpot! _

“Uh...who’s _ his _?” 

_ “My brother, Franky.” _

“OH! I had no idea Franky was your brother! Yes! That’s perfect! I’ll see you then!”

_ “It’s my pleasure. Franky’s also suspecting something’s shady’s going on but I wanted confirmation that the World Government wasn’t involved first” _

“You have my word that it’s not” Cora wasn’t 100% sure, but Law wouldn’t have run away from the World Goverment,_ that’s for sure _ “Thank you, Mayor, honestly”

_ “Don’t thank me yet, I don’t know what I can actually bring to the table” _ admitted the other _ “But I’ll see you then” _

Cora quickly said his goodbyes and put down the receiver, sighing loudly

_ No, the World Government would be much easier to deal with than this family reunion from hell _

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all liked it! 
> 
> I only found out about the Penguin and Shachi thing because of the Law novel that came out with the One Piece Magazine #4! Go figure!
> 
> I'm off to see Promare tonight!


	8. -LAW- What’s A Little Drugging Between Future In-Laws? (AKA He’s Going to Tear Me a New Asshole When He’s Sober)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry about the delay with this chapter!! I've been having some really bad technical problems with my laptop and work has been too busy for me to be able to work on it there and then THE HOLIDAYS happened and well, long story short, I wasn't allowed to be anti-social and work on fic
> 
> But here we go!

_ Maintenance was a bitch _

Law was sometimes forever thankful that Cora had made him choke down that nasty Akumanomi because otherwise he had _ no idea _how the hell he would have been able to work with such little and precise tools

But he needed to keep his tools in tip top shape to make sure_ he didn’t accidentally kill someone _

_ “LAW!!” _

Law sighed, turning around from his work bench to see a distraught Caesar

_ Wow, that was not a good look for him _

“There’s intruders! _ Deal with them! _” 

Law sighed, grabbing his coat and zipping it up to his chin and grabbed his Nodachi

_ Here he goes again _

_BZZT _

_ BZZT _

_BZZT_

_BZZT_

_ Was the intruder seriously ringing the doorbell?? _

_ BZZZT _

_ BZZZT _

_ BZZZT _

Law walked down the hallway, heading towards the main doors that frankly were rarely if ever used._ Everyone always used the back entrance _

_ BZZT _

_ BZZZT _

_ BZZZT _

_ “This island is off limits!! Anyone squatting here ends up being hauled off in chains, so come out and get what’s coming to ya!!” _

_ Huh? _

“Who the fuck is that?” mumbled Law, going up to the massive doors and started to undo all the security on it

_ BZZZT _

_ BZZZT _

Law opened the massive front door of the lab started to creak, opening with a loud GRUNK noise

_ “Oh…it’s opening!” _

_ “Ya finally gave up and surrendered to the mighty Goa police force!!” _

Law froze slightly at the name of the Goa Police Force

_ Was Cora there?! _

Law instantly leaned against the doorframe, trying to keep a stoic face

“This is my mansion now” started Law, but then he instantly spotted who was in front - Captain Chase Smoker!!

_ FUCK _

“What do you want, White Chase Smoker?”

But thankfully, he didn’t see Cora, so at least the other wasn’t here to witness what was going on

But he now knew that he couldn’t stay on the island anymore. _ Smoker would tell Cora for sure _

_ Fuck _

_ “LAW TRAFALGAR?!” _ screeched one of the officers, taking a step back “THE NEWLY MINTED WARLORD!”

_ Ah, word got out it seemed _

“I heard he took the hearts of 100 criminals and sent it to the World Government!”

_ Is that how people are wording it? Alright, he could work with that _

“He’s a madman!”

“This guy’s a freak!!”

_ Okay, that’s pushing it slightly _

“This island is off-limits, Law…_ That include Government men _”

_ It didn’t take a genius to tell that Smoker was furious to see him there _

Man, that guy was scary when he was mad at you

“Then it applies to _ you too _” casually replied Law, smirking slightly

“You have a lot of nerve -!” started Tashigi, clearly furious herself but Smoker lifting his arm, holding out his hand, gesturing her to hold back

Law winced slightly, he didn’t like having Tashigi mad at him 

“Listen, Trafalgar. I don’t know what the fuck you’re up to,_ I’m not even asking. _ But we intercepted a transmission of someone asking for help and that’s why we’re here. I think it’s for your benefit as well to listen to this transmission before you open your yap again and _ say something stupid _”

Law paused, raising a brow slightly

_ A transmission? Who the fuck sent one out? _

“Fine. I’ll listen”

Smoker reached into his pocket and pulled out the small recording device and hit play, letting the whole recording go

_ This was going to be good _

_ “…Punk Hazard ARRGHH!” _

LUFFY?! What the fuck was Luffy doing here?! _ No! This was a trick! _

“The name of the island, the reference to cold…I think it’s pretty clear that the voice on the call was coming from this island, don’t you?” asked Tashigi

“And don’t play dumb, we both know you know Luffy” started Smoker “Personal information aside, you fought together during the affair at Sabaody and you helped him escape during the…Paramount standoff”

Law paused, genuinely surprised that Smoker didn’t say out loud that he and Luffy had been an item for the past two years

Maybe it wasn’t common knowledge to the G5 officers?

Law swallowed down the pleased sound that threatened to erupt from his throat, touched by the Captain’s gesture

Wait, no! He can’t be touched by him! _ This was clearly bullshit! _

“_ What do you want? _ Don’t try to tell me that falsified s.o.s. messages aren’t the oldest cop trick in the book.” started Law, rolling his eyes exaggerated for show, but then he sharply glared at Smoker “ _ And using Luffy to do is dirty _”

_ Law wasn’t going to fall for this crap! _

“Sorry, but that recording isn’t a trap on our part” admitted Smoker

_ Like hell it wasn’t! _

“I’m not convinced and I don’t know anything about this either. _ This conversation is over _”

“Don’t waste my time with evasive answers!” barked Smoker “Show me inside the lab!”

_ Oh fuck no! He wasn’t going to lose everything he’s worked for! _

“It’s my vacation home now” stated Law, glaring at Smoker “And _ no! _ The government abandoned this island. Why can’t a thug like me do what I wish with it? I’m the only one here. And if Luffy makes his way here, I’ll send him right back to Goa. Is that all you wanted? Now leave. _ I came here to be alone _”

Honestly Luffy had better not be here, _ or Law was going to lose i- _

“AAAHHHHH”

“THOSE FROZEN ONES WERE SO SCARY!!”

“WAAAHH”

“Huh?! There IS someone in there!!” yelled one of the police officers

Suddenly there was a loud rumbling behind Law. Law turned his head slightly to look inside and almost out of thin air appeared a crowd of people pushing past Law, through the entrance to cold outside outside

_ Kids?! Why was there kids here?! _

Wait

_ Nami?! Chopper?! Sanji!? _

_ Was Luffy actually here?! _

“HACHAA!! WE’RE OUTSIDE!” yelled Chopper

“We’re out- WE’RE COLD!”

“The Strawhats!” exclaimed Tashigi

“We did it!”

“We’re out of the building! We can go home!”

“I can see mommy and daddy again!”

“It’s so cold!”

_ Kids?! So many kids?! And why were some giant?! _

Suddenly the kids all started to sing and dance with Franky -_ How did Law not notice Franky!? _

“AHH IT’S LAW!” yelled Chopper, shocked 

“Are you the one who locked these kids up?!_ What the fuck, Law! _ You’re evil scum! Well, you’re not getting them back or going anywhere near Luffy either!” yelled Nami

Law instantly felt like absolute shit

_ He had no idea these kids were even here?! What was going on?! _

“It’s Smoker?! And his cutie of a companion!” yelled Sanji

_ How Zoro tolerated Sanji slobbering over anything with tits was beyond Law _

“Damn! I didn’t expect to run into the cops!” exclaimed Sanji, suddenly knocked out of his daze “TURN BACK! LET’S FIND A DIFFERENT EXIT!”

“WAHH! How come?! Aren’t the police the good guy?!”

“Good point! Go with them!”

“No! They look like gangsters!”

And the group suddenly ran inside

_ FUCK! _

_ Why was everything going wrong?! _

“So much for being alone!” barked Smoker, furious

“Yeah…” started Law, confused as hell “I’m just as shocked as you are”

“C’mon! We have to rescue those kids!” yelled Tashigi, the other agents raising their weapons, ready to fight

“C’mon! LET’S GO!”

“NO!! Stop!!” yelled Smoker

“Just great! That’s exactly the kind of complications I didn’t need!” yelled Law, suddenly holding out his fist, small trigger in hand as he squeezed the appropriate buttons to set off the hidden IEDs he had placed all over the entrances. He made sure to set off the ones right underneath the police RVs, making them launch into the air as they exploded

He was going to get in so much shit for this, _ but he wasn’t ready yet! _

“I can’t let you leave the island now. I’m sorry for saying nobody else was here” 

Smoker turned to look at him stunned and ..._ disappointed in him _

_ Fuck, that hurt more than it should _

“AHHH THIS GUY IS BAD NEWS!”

“STAY BACK!” ordered Smoker

“Don’t try anything with him! There’s no telling what he’ll do!” ordered Smoker as he pulled out his jitte, ready to fight

Law frowned sharply, he didn’t know how to fight against something like that jitte - _ he’ll have to fight dirty to get out of this _

_ “I can’t let them get away either!” _

Law opened a small control panel beside the door and hit a button. If he rigged it right, it should release his powder Shambles into the faces of the people leading the kids

If the kids got hit, it would make them dizzy and sluggish, so he was hoping to avoid that at all cost

_ He didn’t want to drug kids! _

Law grabbed the small mouthpiece attached to the intercom and hit the red ‘SPEAK’ button

“SANJI! You now think you’re NAMI! CHOPPER! You now think you’re SANJI! NAMI, you now think you’re FRANKY! FRANKY, you now think you’re CHOPPER!”

The suggestions worked better if he was there in person, _ but he can only hope it worked without him there _

In the meantime, with his other hand, Law kept setting off IEDs to keep the officers distracted, making sure that the ones he set off were nowhere near to actually hurt the officers

_ They were colleagues of Cora after all _

Now time to go back to that mess

“LET’S RETREAT AND REGROUP, CAPTAIN! HE’S CREEPY!”

_ Okay, they can stop with those comments _

Law had quickly gone back outside - ready to end this

“We can’t fight him!”

“The Warlords answer to the government! You’re breaking your contract by attacking us, Trafalgar! We’re gonna snitch on you, pal!” yelled one of the officers, making Law scowl

_ “Not to worry” _started Law as he pulled out another device, turning it on before he shoved it back in his pocket “None of your devices work now and you have no way off this island” 

_ “He fucked up our signal?!” _

“Stop freaking out, you dolts! Just disarm him and turn the damn jammer off!” yelled Smoker, running up to him

Law didn’t miss how he was purposely kicking up the snow to make it hard for Law to follow his movements by dragging his feet and swinging the jitte

_ Wait _

_ No _

There was way too much of a smoke screen - _ Did Smoker use smoke bombs and Law simply didn’t notice!? _

Law quickly pulled up his face mask, hidden underneath his collar, a huge yellow grin on the black fabric*

_ He wasn’t going to inhale Shambled himself! _Law unsheathed his Nodachi, ready to attack

“STAY OUT OF THE RANGE OF HIS BLADE!” yelled Smoker, but it was too late, with one quick turn, Law had cut a good number of officers - putting Shambles right into their bloodstream

“YOU’VE BEEN CUT IN HALF!” announced Law, clear as a bell and as loud as possible

And the agents all started screaming that they were cut in half

_ Perfect _

Smoker pulled back slightly, trying to get a feel for the situation, Law didn’t miss the expression of horror that worked its way on his face

Law smirked as he put the Nodachi back in it’s sheath, giving it another coat of Shambles and whipped his sword around, dispersing the white powder all around

With the wind and the snowstorm, the cops probably couldn’t tell what was going on - the wind was blowing right in their faces, sending Shambles everywhere

“IF I CUT YOU, YOU’RE CUT IN HALF”

Due to the distortion caused by Shambles, the officers weren’t able to move fast enough to get out of his way, allowing Law to ‘cut’ more and more of them down

“You’re dead weight if he hits you! _ Get out of the way!” _howled Smoker

Law’s adrenaline was pumping, his Akumanomi long having been activated. He knew that he needed to take down Tashigi and Smoker and as fast as possible

But these rookies were nothing - _ but both Smoker and Tashigi were combat vets with the World Government Marines _

It was a whole other issue - he’d have to use every dirty trick in the book to get out of this or they’d cuff him and take him back to Cora

_ He was not going to endanger Cora! _

“If that’s how you want to play, Trafalgar?!” asked Tashigi as she rushed towards him, her katana raised, ready to attack

“NO TASHIGI! You don’t know how he’s doing this!” yelled Smoker, but it was no use

A moment later, Tashigi was on the ground, having just narrowly missed Law, _ yet he hadn’t missed her _

“Now you’re sliced in half”

“OH NO! Now the Officer Tashigi’s been cut in half!” yelled one of the officers

_ “Are you still alive?!” _yelled another

Law frowned slightly, he didn’t know he could affect the suggestions of how others were perceived._ ..interesting _

During the confusion, Law used his sheath to break Tashigi’s sword

_ Not wanna deal with that again- _

“Such humiliation!” yelled Tashigi, still collapsed on the ground “To be cut in half and still breathing!! Do the job properly and kill me, Trafalgar!!”

Law lifted a brow, shocked by what Tashigi had just suggested

_ What?! Cora would never forgive him! _

“Do you think spirit alone makes a swordsman?” He felt like such an asshole doing this, but..._ He had to _ “Listen to me, police lady, the weak do not have the right to choose how they die”

“DAMN YOU!” screamed Tashigi as she tried to stab him with the sword - but now only realising that the sword had been broken 

“That sword won’t reach me” taunted Law as he took out his Nodachi from it’s sheath, holding it above his head as he took it out “If you like, I can slice you up a bit more”

“Don’t you dare disgrace our officer Tashigi any further!!” yelled the police officers, pulling out their handguns

_ Fuck _

“The gun’s aren’t working! _ Your fingers are incapable of shooting the trigger! _” ordered Law as all the men suddenly looked at their guns, confused

_ “What the hell?!” _

_ “Is he invincible or something?!” _

_ “Get down!! He’s going to slice all of us again!” _

_ “There’s no way to defend against him!” _

Law brought the nodachi up in front of Tashigi

_ He wasn’t going to actually hit her _

But he’ll convince her to pass out after

As Law brought the Nodachi down, he suddenly hit metal

Law took a step back, shocked, but once the wind moved the snow out of the way, Law could clearly see Smoker in front of him, his Nodachi caught in his jitte

“YEAH SMOKEY!!” yelled the officers, cheering

Suddenly there was tons of smoke, confusing Law

And Law found himself on the ground, having not noticed that Smoker_ not only got behind him and grabbed him by his throat _, but he wasn’t fast enough to react. Smoker threw him to the ground, his hand still on his throat, holding him down

But thankfully, as Smoker positioned himself to bring his jitte down to hold Law down, Law noticed that Smoker had landed with his knees spread just a little too wide

_ Guess he wasn’t as wide as Ace _ , snickered Law mentally, using the gap to bring his leg towards his chest and kick Smoker hard right in his - _ thankful that he wore boots with heels _, knowing it would push Smoker off just enough for him to roll out of the other’s grasp

Law quickly grabbed his Nodachi again and tried to strike Smoker, only for it to be parried by Smoker’s jitte

_ Fuck fuck fuck fuck _

Law quickly reached down and set off another IED, hoping to distract Smoker

Smoker looked back slightly, clearly trying to make sure that his men were fine

_ Ah, weakness spotted _

“Remind me why I ever gave a thug like you a fucking chance?” snarled Smoker as he looked back at Law

_ “You shouldn’t have” admitted Law _

_ Honestly, this whole exchange was making him feel pretty shitty _

He actually had gotten along pretty well with Smoker and because of the fact that they were both seeing one of the Hurricane Brothers, they often wound up at events together

_ Especially those BBQs Garp keeps hosting _

The fact that the Chief of Police had given him a chance also meant a lot and he knew that Cora was really fond of the Captain and respected him deeply

_ And now Law was pissing all over that _

“Do you really need to be doing this, Law?” asked the Captain as they kept parrying “Clearly someone else is behind this island and what’s going on here. _ You had no idea about those kids that came out! _It was all over your face! There’s someone else behind this, isn’t there? Don’t play hero, goddamnit! Let the authorities help!” 

Suddenly there was a massive cloud of smoke and Law barely managed to dodge Smoker’s trying to kick him in the fac-

WAIT

_ That was just his boots! FUCK- _

Suddenly Smoker was behind him again and took a powerful swing, that Law only barely deflected

_ This was getting fucking bad! _

“What are you plotting on this island?! What the hell is so important that you’re worrying the hell out of Ros-”

_ DON’T YOU DARE BRING HIM UP! _

_ “NO! Shut up! _Why don’t you answer that question! What are you people plotting here!? Why do you suddenly care about Punk Hazard?!”

Law knew he had to end this _ and quick _

“You think too highly of me, Captain” started Law as he reached inside of his coat and pulled out a thin, silver, pen-like object and crouched down quickly, just missing another swing of the jitte

Grabbing a handful of snow, Law threw it in the Captain’s face, distracting him for a moment and in that moment, Law thanked his lucky stars that Smoker was currently wearing an open shirt, his chest in plain view

_ Clear view at the target _

“Like you thought that I’d fight you honorably. But if you change your vantage point, you’ll see sights you’ve never seen”

And Law stabbed him right in the chest, exactly where his heart is and squeezed the injection button at the tip of the pen like object

He waited a moment, sure where the object he just injected was in position

Smoker looked down, horrified

_ “My heart-” _

Law quickly rubbed his fingers on the opening of his sheath, gathering the Shambles powder on his fingertips and shoved his fingers right to Smoker’s nostrils, making sure the other would inhale it

_ “When you wake up, you’re going to think you and Tashigi switched bodies” _

And Law hit the small button on the side of the pen, knowing it just gave a small shock to Smoker’s heart, knocking him unconscious

_ Holy shit _

_ Holy shit _

_ He beat Smoker in a fight _

“I don’t have to tell you a single thing” muttered Law 

_ I’m so sorry was what he really wanted to say, but he knew that the chances of him being overheard were too high _

Law couldn’t afford Caesar looking on all of his cameras to suspect him of betraying him

Not now

_ Not when he was so fucking close _

“SEE! It’s a police RV!”

Law froze, turning around, horrified at something coming towards him

Urgh, it was that total loser Brownbeard who allowed Monet to like, experiment on him, to give him those freaking metal animal limbs

_ “Does that mean the cops are here?” _

_ “Look! I see someone!” _

_ Holy shit _

_ Fuck _

_ FUCK _

“LAW!” screamed Luffy as he jumped off Brownbeard’s back and ran tried to run in the snow up to Law, smiling brightly 

_ This had to be some sort of hallucination!! He had the mask on! There was no way he had inhaled any Shambles! _

“Why is there a bunch of cops on the ground here?!” muttered Usopp, looking around, making Luffy stop dead in his tracks

“SMOKER!” 

_ Urrggh _

It looked like Tashigi had regained consciousness

“Crap! The cops!” exclaimed Luffy, looking behind him _ “OH!” _

Tashigi reached Smoker, quickly turning him around and gasped - _ fuck, she saw the entry point _

“DID YOU SHOOT HIM?! _ How dare you!!” _ screamed Tashigi, lunging at him 

“C’mon! Don’t get overly emotional!” chided Law, getting annoyed_ “I hate that!” _

_ He wouldn’t shoot the Captain!! What kind of person did she think he is?! _

Once she got close enough, he slammed his hand on her nose and mouth, knowing he still had Shambles on his glove

_ “When you wake up, you’ll think you and Smoker switched bodies” _

He then punched her in the gut, promptly knocking her out again 

_ “Don’t get desperate. That’s how you get killed” _ hissed Law

“Hurry Luffy!” yelled Zoro, now that Law could see him “We gotta get out of here! The cops are coming!” 

Luffy turned to look back at Law

_ “We need to talk, Torao!” _

“I agree. But for now go around the back of the lab. You’ll find what you’re looking for over there and we’ll meet up later”

Luffy merely nodded and ran off to join Zoro

Law groaned, quickly disappearing, he needed to talk to Caesar and _ NOW _

  
  
  
  


This is what the mask looks like!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it! I hope you enjoyed this and I swear I'll get to all your wonderful comments this weekend and if all goes well, I'll try to post another chapter before the new year and a little pwp that takes place after the events of Clothes Makes the Man for Ace's birthday!!


	9. -SMOKER-  Dude Looks Like a Lady (When I Get Sober, I’m Ripping That Kid a New Asshole!!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before this chapter starts, let me tell you how I fucking wish the G5 dudes had NAMES but nooo, can’t give us that Oda, can ya?
> 
> Anywho! Here’s the chapter! A tad early because I’m still fucking wrecked from NYE and very much plan on sleeping this entire weekend! 
> 
> Enjoy!

Ace often joked that his pectorals were so big that they probably couldn’t even find a bra that fit them if they tried

But…this…_ this was weird _

Whenever Smoker looked down, he saw a clearly stereotypical ‘woman’s body’. He knew that it was probably whatever the fuck Law dosed him with that was making him see it – but his vision was weird and hazy, like being in a thick fog, yet when he looked down

_ He clearly saw a pair of boobs hanging there _

When he squinted and tried to concentrate hard, he could see his actual body for a mere flash but otherwise – _ his body appeared like Tashigi’s _

His body was small, the ground felt so damn close, his center of gravity was all fucked up, his face felt petite and even his hands - _ they just felt so incredibly tiny _

He could feel long hair hanging in the back, and it was driving him nuts

Not being 6’10” and weighing a shitton was seriously messing with him and he knew that fighting like this was going to be a nightmare as well

_ What the fuck had Law drugged him with?! _

Smoker groaned, rubbing his brow, they had to retreat and try to regain themselves. It took forever to convince those who had been ‘sliced’ up that they were now put together but there was no convincing Smoker or Tashigi that they hadn’t switched bodies. 

So in the meantime, they had found shelter in a cave and were trying to figure shit out

His head was pounding so much,_ this was fucking annoying _

“Are you sure you feel all right with whatever happened to your heart, Tashigi?” asked one of the officers

Right, they were also convinced that they had all switched bodies

_ But that’s impossible, right? _

Smoker grinded down slightly on his cigar, frustrated

“Yes, strangely enough…” muttered Tashigi, looking down at her own chest

Watching her was getting annoying because she kept trying to make herself smaller - clearly feeling like she was taking too much space in Smoker’s body

Smoker winced, grinding his cigar, his hated seeing himself so..._ self-conscious _

“There was a CC logo on the ship hidden around the side of the laboratory” started Smoker, trying to change the topic

“HUH? There was?!” asked one of the officers, stunned

“Everything on this island should say PH on it for Punk Hazard. Assuming there is someone’s behind Law’s actions here, and that CC is their initials, there’s one person that springs to mind”

_ Motherfucking Clown Caesar _

“And his presence here would explain a lot of things!! That mad bastard, former colleague of Dr.Vegapunk, now wanted by the Government, the previous authority on weapons of mass murder – the scientist Clown Caesar!”

_ Law, what the fuck have you gotten mixed up with?! _

“But...why would Law get mixed up with such a man?” asked Tashigi softly “He should know better…”

“He probably has good reasons. The kid’s not dumb enough to throw away everything that was sacrificed for him” admitted Smoker, not in the mood to defend the little shit, _ but he had no point in lying _

“Those kids too…I’ve been thinking about it” started Tashigi

Smoker frowned sharply – it was so weird to see himself across the way like that

Especially with the coat zipper up to his throat

Stop that

_ Ace would give you a Titty Penalty for that _

“If memory serves me right, this area has suffered multiple child abductions in recent years” 

_ “ABDUCTIONS?!” _yelled the officers, stunned

“Tashigi! We just can’t get used to you looking like that!” yelled another

_ Oh good, it wasn’t just him _

“I can’t help it! You’ll just have to deal with it!” exclaimed Tashigi, frustrated but looking…bashful

_ Okay, he could not deal with her expressions on his face _

“What the hell’s going on, Tashigi!? I never heard of any child abductions?!” asked Smoker, frustrated

_ Granted, this wasn’t his district but he should still be aware! _

“PLEASE BUTTON UP MY SHIRT, SMOKER!!” yelled Tashigi

Smoker frowned, looking right at her

_ No _

He needed to be comfortable if he was going to fight and he wasn’t going to be with his dang coat zipped to his throat and him being constricted in his movements by a stupid shirt!

And honestly, even though he could see Tashigi’s ugly purple flower shirt..thing - _ he knew that he wasn’t actually wearing a shirt to technically, he had nothing he could button up! _

“I mean, I’ve heard the occasional reports of car wrecks here, but that’s it. I guess I have been under the impression that lots of kids die in the area” admitted Smoker, mulling it over

_ It was always right out of Goa’s jurisdiction, so Smoker couldn’t actually be involved, but he had noted it recently _

_ Especially since he had kids more on the mind than usual _

“Yeah! I heard about that too! Lotsa dead kids” admitted one of the officers “I heard you and Officer Trafalgar talking about it”

_ Rosinante knew about this?! _

“Well, I’ve been in and out of the communications department and I found out that this county in particular receives a large number of child abduction reports, especially out of G-5.” admitted Tashigi as she tried to reach for her glasses – but since she kept hitting them, Smoker was now holding on to them until this…_ drug or whatever _wore off

“Oh…no glasses..But by the time that information makes it into news articles, they’re always changed to car wrecks, gang violence and so on” explained Tashigi “Of course I’m not discounting the possibility that the initial reports were incorrect! But…there’s always a chance, however slight…that, well”

_ No. Stop that! _

“Is that your hunch?! _ Then spit it out! _ You’re saying, based on the number of kids that we saw, that those initial reports of child abductions were the truth?!” Smoker frowned, crossing his arms

_ Oh, he had to go lower now _

_ Stupid boobs, how do women deal with this shit?! _

“_ And the abductors are here on this island? _ But if that’s true, then it follows that the articles and reports making their way out into the world are lies, which means that someone within the G-5 is covering up the truth about children being taken from their homes!”

It made total sense and now Smoker felt like_ the biggest fucking idiot in the world for not having noticed it either _

“YOU THINK THESE ABDUCTORS HAVE A MOLE IN THE G-5?!” yelled a shocked officer

“Watch it, Smokey!!” yelled another one of the officers “You’re treadin’ dangerous waters! We might be a ragtag band o’ ruffians but we’ve at least got the bare minimum of pride as a cop!!”

“SHUT UP!” roared Smoker, making everyone jump back “You fools don’t have the brains for me to suspect you in the first place!”

_ “WHAT!?” _

“Plus, you’ve got some weird illusions about cops! As long as man joins together to conspire against man, _ there is no such thing as a perfect, untainted organization _! Assumptions will let the real enemy walk free! Don’t be deceived by appearances!” ranted Smoker, furious that his men would be so goddamn naïve like that

What kind of idiot in this day and age thinks the cops are a perfect organisation?! _ As if it wasn’t filled with bad apples spoiling the bunch _

“YES CAP’N!”

“But Smoker…I’m not sure I have it right” admitted Tashigi nervously 

_ Jesus fucking Christ, she says this as she’s banging her knees together?! _

_ NOT IN MY BODY! _

“Don’t worry. It’s worth keeping in mind. Either way, Law did something to my heart and has us badly drugged up. We can’t leave this island for the time being.” explained Smoker, sighing “One third of you should take a ship, get back to land and report this”

“What do you mean? Our RV’s been blown to pieces!”

“I did mention they have a ship, didn’t I? _ Steal it. _ It looked amphibious so you should be able to ride it right out of here after” pointed out Smoker, annoyed

_ He was drugged out of his mind and he still noticed the ship, what a useless bunch _

“OH! Right! I forgot about that! _ Man, you’ve evil! _” said one of the officers, while snickering

_ “But be careful” _warned Smoker “I’m gonna take my heart and body back before this whole thing gets blown up so I can expose whoever’s behind what’s happening on this island. But as of right now, I’m convinced it’s Clown Caesar”

“How are you so sure?” asked Tashigi, surprised

“Because he’s the one who caused the accident here in the first place” admitted Smoker

He was beyond thankful right now that while investigating for the lab for SMILE, Smoker had asked Rosinante what he knew about the incident that happened on the island and actually got the full, actual story out of him

_ It’s good to have an ex-World Government spy in your corner _

_ Even though he looks like he’s about to piss his pants whenever I ask him to come into my office and shut the door _

“WHAT?! For real, Smokey!?”

“That’s right. He’s the one who caused the entire incident that happened on this island. It was Caesar who built the weapon and set it off. He was the number two man in the World Government Science Division, but a cruel one. Caesar was constantly at odds with Vegapunk. As the head scientist, Vegapunk was held responsible for the accident, but that was the extent of it” Smoker paused for a moment, getting up, wobbling slightly as his center of gravity was completely fucked up “Developing weapons of mass murder that spray toxic gas is a crime, of course, under the Geneva Convention. Caesar was apprehended but he somehow escaped from the prison transport vehicle and he hasn’t been seen since. If Caesar really is continuing his research on this island to this day, then he has to be stopped before he unleashes something even worst!”

“But shouldn’t we leave this to like, the World Government Marines or something?!”

“_ There’s no time. _Caesar will see this as an infiltration already and is probably already plotting an escape. We have to do it, we’re the only people of the law around to do so”

_ Smoker would be damned if he let a man like that escape! _

“For now, we need to clear a path for the ones who are going to steal that ship and go! In the meantime, we’ll gather as much goddamn evidence we can to make sure that Clown Caesar never sees the goddamn light of day ever again and rots in a cage like he should” declared Smoker, holding up his jitte as all the officers cried in agreement, cheering 

In the little while they had scouted the island, there were a few things they discovered

For an island who had no apparent survivors – especially no survivors of the prisoners they were holding onto before the accident – _ they kept finding them?? _

Tashigi meticulous was able to cross-reference all of the prisoners with her portable database. Thankfully she had the device working offline, and she was able to match every single one they came across

But something wasn’t quite_ …right _

Everyone they’ve encountered had an odd metal prosthetics of some sort that made them look like…_ uh…half animal like? _

Like centaurs and stuff

All the parts had faux-skin and fur on it, but when the officers attacked them, the fur would often rip off, showing mechanical, robotic parts

“There’s another one, Smoker! He’s also in the database of supposedly killed prisoners!” confirmed Tashigi as the officers tied him up

_ “What the FUCK is going on around here?!” _ asked Smoker as he held an unconscious prisoner up “Why was it reported that there were zero prisoners surviving the incident four years ago?!” 

“…What’s with these guys, Smokey?” 

“I don’t know! Just keep them goddamn occupied! We need to get that ship moving to send in our report!” exclaimed Smoker, taking a misstep, grunting loudly

Everything was spinning and wrong, but Smoker couldn’t show his officers how much he was _ struggling _

_ They needed to know that they could still depend on him _

He really wishes Ace was here, Smoker was able to show some ounce of weakness around him and Ace always grounded him when he felt unstable

_ Especially his scent _

He loved smelling Ace’s hair, especially right when he woke up. When they were both nice and warm and comfortable in the comforters - neither of them having anything to do that day so they just stay in bed

_ Fuck, why was he thinking of Ace so much?! _

This wasn’t the time or the place!

They finally made it near the shore, only to notice how close they were to the lab

_ Well, that’s convenient _

“Blast that fucking door open!” ordered Smoker, as the officers attempted to take the door of the lab down

Unable to use their guns or any trigger weapons due to the suggestions of Law under the drug he used, _ it was pathetic to watch them attempting to open the metal door _   
  
“Goddamnit, if I was in my right mind, I would have been inside by now!” cursed Smoker, furious

_ Goddamnit it Trafalgar!! _

“What the-“ cried Tashigi, looking up, horrified “SOMETHING’S COMING THIS WAY!”

Suddenly a vehicle of some sort came crashing down near them, off the mountain slope, surprising everyone

“DAMNIT!” yelled a voice as the door of the shipping container flying through the air popped open

“COME ON OUT, MASTER!”_ Oh fuck no _ “WE’VE COME TO KICK YOUR BUTT AND THEN KIDNAP YOU!!”

“Ga haha! That was quite the shortcut!”

_ “That was a secret, Luffy” _

Smoker was drugged, stranded, hungry, exhausted, he had a headache, was dizzy, his center of gravity was completely fucked, he only had a fraction of his strength right now at best

And motherfucking Luffy D. Monkey just literally crash landed in front of him

_ Could this day literally get any worse?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next week we’re right back to Law! Too much is going on for a Cora break I’m afraid! (but y’all are getting that LawLu reunion you all wanted!)


	10. -LAW- Folie à Deux ( Let’s Drive off This Cliff Together )

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter going up a little early this week because I'll be going out of town for a small vacation and let's be real, I'm old, I'll be dead when I come back and knowing my scatterbrain self, I'll just forget to post it, so here it is now!

_ Luffy was here?! _

Law’s heart was pounding a million miles per hour

Not only had he seen Luffy after a month, he had also seriously assaulted a full unit of the Goa’s police forces and Tashigi and Smoker

_ “WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE, LAW?!” _

Law frowned sharply, beyond annoyed at who he found at the end of the hallway 

_ Clown Caesar who had the nerve to look furious at him! _

“I’ve gone a bone to pick with you too, Caesar!” replied Law, irritated

_ Why are their kids here?! _

“You brought the cops here! And those Strawhat brats!”

“I did no such thing!” yelled Law “I had no idea until they burst out from the front gate that they were even here! Also!  _ Why the fuck is there a bunch of kids here?!” _

“I thought the deal was to stay out of each other’s business?!” reminded Caesar, making Law clamp up

_ Fuck, he dug himself a hole there! _

“Fine.  _ You’re right. _ Can we got to your lab? I have some things I need to discuss”

“Go without me” answered Caesar “I have to see what the hell  _ he _ wants us to do with the intruders! I’ll meet you back there!”

Law scowled, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that he was going to call Doflamingo and that Doflamingo with simply order for them to be killed

_ “Fine” _

Law entered the lab and quickly plopped himself down on the massive couch, sighing deeply

_ What the fuck was he going to do now? _

“Well well well, it seems some of your friends came to visit you, Law” teased Monet, grinning

“Shut up.  _ I didn’t call them _ and I have nothing to do with them here”

“How can we be so sure of that?”asked Monet, and honestly,  _ rightfully so _

Law frowned sharply

“I brought a small peace offering” announced Law, turning around as Caesar walked into the room and sat down on the couch as well

“And what would that be, Law?” asked Caesar, clearly still annoyed

Law held out the small Scalpel device and handed it over to Caesar 

“This is a small microchip insertion tool. I rigged it to inject a small device right on Captain Smoker’s heart. If you hit the button on the side and hold it down, it gives an electrical shock to his heart. It can knock him right out. If you keep holding down on the button, you can continuously shock his heart” explained Law

“A very thoughtful gift! I’ve already sent soldiers out to handle the cops, shu ho ho ho but this should seal the deal! That man is a massive pain in the ass” confirmed Caesar, pocketing the device

_ Law had to wonder how the fuck Caesar even knew about Smoker? _ Honestly at one point Law should really look into the Captain’s history. It seems that everybody seems to have an opinion on him

_ Not a particularly good one, but on the other hand, it was usually along the lines of how nobody can make him do anything _

“What about Strawhat?” asked Law, trying his hardest not to look too concerned

“I’m not too worried about the kids. They’ll want to come back soon enough, but Monet has been urging caution with those gangsters. So I set out the Dynamic Duo after them, but honestly it seems like overkill to me” 

Law’s heart sank in his stomach

_ They had sent trained hitmen to hunt out the Strawhats?! _

“Ah. That is overkill” agreed Law, trying to keep his voice steady

“And just before I got back to the lab, I got word that they were already killed”

_ Doubt it _

_ Nothing could kill Luffy D. Monkey _

“So you see, Monet?” 

Monet laughed as she made her way to the couch, perching on the seat 

_ To think he helped her install those bird leg things _

“Hahaha, what a disappointment!” exclaimed Monet as she flipped through her notes with her now bird-like wings “They’re fellow members of Law’s Worst Generation. And the Government is as afraid of them as they are of Blackbeard. With the way the papers claimed they were fully back in action after their two year hiatus, I’d figure they’d have more backbone… _ right Law? _ ” 

Law frowned sharply –  _ he knew he was being baited _

“You know Strawhat rather well, don’t you?” asked Monet smiling “You two were always together at school”

_ “What?”  _ Caesar looked mad “I didn’t know this!”

Mad enough to apparently pull out a gun and point it to Law

_ Fucking great _

“You didn’t call him here, did you?” asked Caesar, finger on the trigger

_ Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck  _

“I told you already, until I ran across them at the front entrance, I didn’t even know they were being held in the lab!  _ If I had known _ , I’d have warned you that locking them in a cell isn’t enough.  _ Thanks to your negligence _ , I was unable to drive the cops away. And this operation being exposed is a bad thing for me too” explained away Law, hoping it was enough

_ Put the fucking gun away _

“Well” started Caesar, raising the barrel of the gun to face upward “I suppose if you wanted to bring friends along, you’d have been a little bit more clever about it. After sucking up to the World Government to get a cushy Warlord post, you wouldn’t screw it all up by making a mess of things here”

Law exhaled, as Caesar put the gun back inside his coat

“Sorry for doubting you” apologized Caesar, making Law internally cringe

_ Now, he needed to know _

“Earlier you said that the kids would come back on their own?” asked Law, trying to merely show curiosity in Caesar’s schemes, hoping the other wouldn’t be suspicious of his questioning and shoot him down again

“Ah yes!” exclaimed Caesar, proud of himself “I give them drugged candies every day! Nice and sweet, with a fizzy stimulant gas effect. Shu ho ho ho! And if they try to go back home, they won’t be able to get their precious candy anymore!”

_ Holy fuck _

Those fifty million candies he kept having to wrap up

_ Were drugs for kids?! _

_ He had helped fucking kids become drug addicts?! _

“I don’t like your style”  _ This was so fucked up _ “You remind me of someone else..”

Law stood up, taking his Nodachi

He needed air,  _ he needed air right now _

“What about the battle?” asked Monet innocently

Law stopped in his tracks, not able to hide how furious he was

_ This was so fucked up! _

“Call me if you need me! I’ll bring you back any head you want”

Law barely made it outside, swallowing back down the bile that built up in his throat

_ The snowstorm was still raging hard, but the air was a welcomed relief _

_ He was way over his head, how could Law ever consider himself a doctor if he’s responsible for drugging fucking kids?! _

“Huh? Where are you going Law? The cops are in this area” asked a guard, surprising Law

Law stopped, shaking out of his thoughts as he kept walking

“I don’t care” Law quickly turned around; swinging his Nodachi, cutting up the guard with the Shambles powder on the blade “I’m allowed to go where I please! Pass out NOW!”

As Law kept trekking in the snow

He needed to make sure Luffy and the others were safe

Law had fucked up, _ fucked up bad _ , so he needed to somehow do right

He suddenly heard a commotion

That sounds like – _ Luffy!! _

_ He knew he wasn’t dead! He knew it!! _

Law started to run as much as he could in the thick and heavy snow and soon came across Luffy, Nami and Franky attempting to fight against the Yeti Cool Brothers, the two hitmen

“It’s you!!” called out one of the brothers has he spotted Law “Strawhat Luffy is here!”

Law frowned sharply as he unsheathed his Nodachi and slid down the cliff, he did one quick swing, cutting one of the brothers with his Shambles covered blade

_ “Sleep” _

“HEY! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!” yelled the other brother as he tried to attack Law

Law pulled out another Scalpel device and stabbed the brother right in the chest and gave him a quick shock, knocking him right out

“Torao?” called out Luffy, surprised

“Oh thank you!  _ I mean, hang on! _ What the fuck did you drug us with!?” screamed Nami, stumbling slightly

“You saved Nami for me!” exclaimed Luffy as he rushed towards them 

“I thought it over and I’ve come to talk to you, Strawhat”

Law felt like such an asshole being so distant with Luffy, but he came to a conclusion while walking here

He was over his head

_ And he needed a miracle _

“It was no doubt a coincidence that brought you here. I didn’t say a goddamn word about being here, yet here you are. But as it happens, this island harbours a crucial key powerful enough to stop everything. There’s only two ways to survive in this gang filled world. Associate yourself with a Warlord or become one. And I know you enough to know that you’re neither”

Law had rehearsed this speech, knowing it was stiff as hell -  _ but he needed Luffy to understand! _

“Nope! I like to be in charge!” admitted Luffy as he walked up to Law

“Then let’s form an actual alliance”

“Alliance?” asked Luffy, clearly trying to figure out where Law was going with this

“Together, you and I might be able to pull it off to take down an Warlord”

“An alliance?! And if we join forces with you, we can beat a Warlord?  _ Are you insane?  _ And why should we even trust you?! You dumped Luffy via text and then disappeared without a trace and suddenly you want us to risk our lives for you? Luffy!  _ Don’t listen to him! _ ” argued Nami, clearly pissed

_ Well, with reason _

“I didn’t say we’d stroll right up to a Warlord and take them down and win. I’m saying that if we follow the plan in the right order, we’ll have a good chance of pulling it off!” explained Law, trying to keep his cool “So what do you say, Strawhat?”

Honestly all Law really wanted to do was run up to Luffy and kiss him stupid,  _ but he couldn’t break character right now _

“When you say one of the Warlords, which one do you mean?” asked Luffy

“No, Luffy!  _ Stop getting interested! _ We clearly can’t trust him!” argued Nami again

_ “Doflamingo Donquixote” _

“I see! I’m in!”

_ “WHAT?!” _

_ Thank you, Luffy, so much _

Law couldn’t help but smile slightly, relieved when Luffy said yes

“Let’s go find everyone else and tell them!” announced Luffy as he got right up to Law and grabbed his hand “Let’s finish this nightmare for you, okay?”

  
  


At the scene, Law had spotted the unconscious Chopper and had offered to carry him, giving Luffy and Nami a small break

Law dilligently followed them, only to be brought to a secret broken down part of the lab

Law looked around; this must have been the scene of the blast, all those years ago

“Guys guys guys! I finally found Torao!” exclaimed Luffy happily as he went to talk with the group of Strawhats gathered there

Law kept looking around the new part of the lab. For some reason, he had never really bothered to look at the remains of the previous lab. It was rather spacious –  _ maybe he should have settled down here instead of being accessible to annoying pests like Monet _

He then walked closer to the group – surprised at the reaction he was getting

Law was met with a furious Chopper, who regained consciousness, Usopp and Robin

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE’RE FORMING AN ALLIANCE WITH THE HEART PIRATES TO TAKE DOWN A WARLORD?!” screeched Usopp, besides himself at the suggestion “How can you leave to go get Nami and come back with something so insane?! How the hell can we even trust him after he dumped you via text and then disappeared off the face of the earth like that?! _ And now he comes back, asking you to risk his life for him?!” _

Law frowned sharply, not even able to pretend that didn’t hurt like hell

_ But Usopp had a point _

“You see, Luffy? We’re all against it!” added Nami, pleading with Luffy

“Isn’t kind of early to start thinking of attacking a Warlord that directly?” pointed out Chopper “Usually we didn’t mean to go after one, we just…kinda did by accident”

“I will follow your decision Luffy” started Robin “But betrayal is a part of gang alliances. This might not be such a good idea for someone as trusting as you” 

_ Actually that’s pretty solid advice _

“Huh? You’re going to betray me?” asked Luffy, turning to look at Law, clearly hurt by the suggestion

_ While Law himself was hurt by the fact that Luffy would even ask _

On the other hand, he did send him that shitty text and just…vanished

“No”

It was the most honest answer he could give Luffy right now

Luffy posed and made a pleased sound at Law’s answer

_ “OH C’MON!” _ yelled Usopp, flabbergasted

“Look! I know how bad this ‘Mingo guy is from all the stories and stuff that Torao told me! And I also know Torao had a good reason to leave like he did and send me that dumb text like he did! That doesn’t change the fact that I trust him with all of my heart” admitted Luffy

Law could feel his heart breaking into pieces and then swelling up big and strong

He knew that Luffy loved him, but for him to stick up for him after everything he’s done, without an explanation from him – was just… _ too much for him _

“Also, there’s nothing to worry about! I have you guys and your two years of training with me!” finished Luffy, beaming, proud of his crew

And clearly they were all beyond touched with what Luffy said,  _ because now they were all cooing over him _

Law blushed furiously, madly jealous that he couldn’t gush as well and pulled out a quick needle and a small vial from his pocket 

“Uh…Nami, Chopper, Franky…I have the detox here for the drugs I exposed you to…I can flush it out real quick out of you with this. It should work within minutes” 

The trio looked at him suspiciously for a moment before chucking off their coats, allowing Law to administer the shot in their upper arms 

A few moments later, they seemed to slowly get their bearings back

Law was relieved

“I’M BACK, BABY! My good old ultimate body!! I’m in the best form of me there is! Mmm SUPER!” yelled Franky as he flexed, Robin clapping softly besides him

“I’m so happy for you, Franky! Just don’t ever think of pretending that you’re Chopper again! Ever!” warned Robin, with a big smile on her face

_ Oof Robin was seriously scary just now _

Chopper though, groaned softly as he collapsed to the ground

“I’m tired, my body can’t take it anymore” 

Law bit his lip slightly – Chopper did look like he was in really horrible shape. But Law frowned softly –  _ why was he covered in hair and had like…small bumps on his forehead that looked like horns? _

“Chopper has a special akumanomi that makes him more animal like. It’s why he’s dressed head to toe year ‘round and wears a hat to cover those horns!” explained Luffy softly besides him, having noticed Law’s reaction

Law blinked, surprised

_ He had no idea! _

Law then turned his head and saw a bunch of kids tied up to a giant mass. He looked at them in shock, clearly all of them were suffering from some sort of gigantism?! 

_ Fuck, this was so bad _

“Are these the kids?” asked Law shocked, as he walked up to them

“Yeah! We wanna save them!” answered Luffy proudly as he tapped one on the arm

“They’ve been drugged…or so I heard” _ from Caesar himself, to boot _

“I know that!” answer Chopper from his spot on the ground “I tested them myself! Which is why we want to send them home! But it takes time to wean them off the drugs. Plus look at how huge they are!” 

“This forced gigantism in humans is a piece of World Government Research that’s been in the works for years”

He remembered his father bringing it up once, after they watched a movie together about a man with gigantism. Law hadn’t believed at the time that the Government would do such a thing – but after what happened in Flevance,  _ he didn’t doubt it _ . And it was also confirmed by Cora once he had asked. Cora himself seemed extremely uncomfortable talking about human experimentation so Law dropped it

Seeing it confirmed in front of him like this,  _ honestly made him nauseous _

“The Government did this? For what purpose?” asked Robin, the innocent tone in her voice didn’t fool Law – he knew she was digging.  _ But honestly, Law had nothing to hide either _

“Probably for soldiers…Think like Captain America. You can take scrawny normal people and manufacture an army of giant warriors whenever you want. Nobody would want to fuck with you” Law snarled, angry “Caesar probably thinks that if he can pull this off, he can rub it in the nose of the Government and Vegapunk’s, but I doubt it’ll work long term! Gigantism is hell on the body!”

Law had to swallow the bile building in his throat

He couldn’t deny that he had played a part in this and it sickened him

_ Was he any better than those who tried to kill him in Flevance?! _

“Do you really want to help them? A bunch of kids from who knows where?” asked Law honestly _ , they couldn’t do this half-assed if they were gonna do it _

“Yes, they’re total strangers. We don’t know them. But they cried to us for help. They’ve been tricked into coming here, but they know something’s wrong. I simply can’t leave this island until I know they’re safe” admitted Nami, but then she lifted a brow “Also, let’s be honest. _ We’re also a bunch of kids from who knows where.  _ We were all helped by good intending people too”

Law frowned, nodding

_ She wasn’t off the mark with that one _

“Are you going to stay here alone?”

Law wasn’t sure how they were going to escape with so many kids and it might be a while until they can come back for help for them – he didn’t know how safe it felt for Nami to just stay here alone

“I’m not leaving anyone behind. If Chopper and Nami are staying, so am I. And Sanji’s also gone to help that Samurai guy and doesn’t want to leave until he does. And if you’re part of our alliance, you’re going to help us all leave together, right?”

_ Sneaky fucking bastard _

Luffy knew that if he played his cards like that that Law couldn’t fucking say no

“Yeah! That’s what it means to team up with Luffy! You should know that, Law!” teased Usopp – as he was standing behind Luffy

_ You chicken shit! _

“Trust me…I know what dealing with Luffy is like” mumbled Law

_ Honestly though, more than he would admit it, Law was kinda glad _

He did want to help the kids, but he also knew what a burden it would be to impose it on the Strawhats – so if the Strawhats wanted to feel like they conned him into it,  _ so be it _

Law’s willing to play the role of the unwilling helper

“Fine. But we don’t have time to waste! I’ll go find out more about the drug the kids were given so we can figure out how to flush it out of their system. I’ll need Chopper’s help to come with me to distract Caesar!” 

_ They had no time to waste! Every second was now important! _

“Umm…I can’t really move right now” admitted the small boy, clearly frustrated

“Well maybe we can try this” mumbled Usopp as he picked up Chopper and placed in on Law’s back. Luffy then held him into place as Usopp tried to tie him up to Law’s back with rope

Luffy couldn’t stop laughing, shaking as he held Chopper

Law simply wanted to die

_ This was humiliating _

“Don’t you have a bag or something I can carry him in?!” yelled Law, clearly annoyed

Thankfully they did and now Chopper was riding on his back, kinda like a baby carrier thing. Once they got inside, he’d have to put Chopper’s head into the bag, but for now, it was heavy, but it would work

“The fact that Caesar sent assassins’ means that he wants to get rid of you and Smoker so he can take the kids back. So he won’t stop attacking until he gets what he wants. Caesar is a former Government scientist turned criminal after the incident that happened here four years ago” started explaining Law

_ But he might as well admit the dirty details _

“Two years ago, he started teaching at our school. The objective was to recruit people to work in his drug lab here. He recruited me to work as a chemist, and I agreed so I could infiltrate the lab. But if the truth gets out that someone’s living on this off-limit island, he loses his perfect hideout. That’s why he’s desperate to kill you.  _ But be careful! _ He has a 300 million dollars bounty, he’s a master of weapons of mass murder and he also has an akumanomi that makes him release gas from his pores. When you’re directly exposed to it too long, it’s toxic as fuck”

Everyone nodded, listening carefully to Law’s instructions

_ This was rare _

“I’ll head back to the lab for now”

“So…” started Luffy “You want us to find this master guy and kidnap him, right?”

Law nodded

“That’s the plan”

_ Wow, he was listening! _

“For ransom or something?”

“No, _ confusion _ . I’ll explain after, I promise. But for now, I need you to concentrate on capturing him because it won’t be easy. But once Caesar’s been caught, things will start to move very fast. Once that happens, you can’t turn back and pretend you weren’t involved, Luffy. _ I need you to understand that.  _ This is your only chance to rethink this and back out. Because after this,  _ it’s ride or die until the end” _

Law needed Luffy to understand that he’s sacrificing his life if he carries on like this with him

He needs him to understand that he’s throwing everything away for a fight that isn’t his

“No need!” replied Luffy, smiling brightly  _ “I’m with you!” _

Law smiled genuinely for the first time in months, looking back at Luffy

_ “Then I know better than to argue with you” _

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And voilà! 
> 
> Law and Luffy have finally reunited and decided to work together to take down Doflamingo!


	11. -SMOKER – Let the Bodies Hit the Floor (How Did That Go Again? Ooh, You’ll Love My (Ah-Ah-Ah) Toxic Love)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh sorry about the delay with this chapter! Since the next chapter is on the short end, I'll try to put it up this weekend to make up for it!

_ “Well, now we’re here! But where’s that master dude?” _

Was Luffy doing this on purpose?!

_ It had to be on purpose _

Why the fuck did he keep showing up right where Smoker was_ trying to do his fucking job – adding him another fucking headache!! _

Because if anything happened to Luffy while Smoker was there, he knew Ace wouldn’t blame him per say

_ But Ace would be furious at himself for not being there to help his little brother _

Meaning that now Smoker felt obligated to help Luffy

_ Which he did not want to do! _

“He’s not going to be waiting outside. Let’s go inside the laboratory” suggested Robin Nico, her, Smoker knew of

_ “Strawhat Luffy!! What are you plotting on this island?!” _

Smoker frowned sharply, wondering why he’d go and say something like that

He heard his voice say it..._ but it sounded weird _

But then he remembered it wasn’t him as Tashigi barrelled past him to attack Luffy

_ Great _

“Hey Smokey! You’re all right!! I was worried after I saw you on the ground earlier! Ace would be real sad if anything happened to you!”

_ Please do not bring Ace up now!! _

Luffy quickly managed to bring down Tashigi, holding her down merely by holding her arms down

_ This was embarrassing! _

“What happened to you? You’re all weak now!” pointed out Luffy, frowning as he held down Tashigi 

Even though Smoker knew that his drug addled brain was seeing Tashigi as himself right now, t_ his was an image he could not stand! _

Luffy is this scrawny 5’7 brat who maybe weighed 140lbs, holding his 6’10” ass down!! 

“Oh c’mon!!_ I don’t wanna see myself losing that guy!” _ Smoker charged in, jitte in hand, prepared to knock Luffy out to make sure he’s safe

_ Unconscious Luffy he could deal with _

_ “Huh?! _” cried out Luffy, just barely missing the hit

“It must be Law’s work, Luffy! They’re probably drugged up and think that they’re each other” pointed out Robin as she helped his officers take down some of the lab’s guards

_ Thank you _

“OH! So you’re all drugged up too!” confirmed Luffy casually as he kept missing each hit of his jitte easily 

_ Fuck it was hard to fight like this! _

Soon enough, Luffy had both hands on Smoker’s wrists, holding him down

“How’s this? We’ll fight next time! There’s no purpose to square off when you aren’t at your best!” suggested Luffy happily

_ Fucking pissing him off! _

“DON’T BE SMART WITH ME!” yelled Smoker as he threw a kick, Luffy easily dodging it

“Aww! C’mon Smokey! Don’t be m-“

A loud explosion cut off Luffy’s voice, surprising everyone

Smoker turned his head to see that a large hole had been blown out from the laboratory’s door, shocking him

_ “Who the fuck?!” _ muttered Smoker

None of his agents had anything that could do that!!

“Door’s open, Luffy” declared a happy giant man

“Alright! Quick work, Franky!” happy answered Luffy, not even concerned

_ Franky?! Like Ace’s previous shop teacher?! _

Smoker looked at the man confused – he didn’t seem to be packing any weapons?! _ So how did he possibly?! _

Luffy suddenly sprinted in front of him, heading towards the hole they just blew into the door with Robin and Franky

_ Well...I guess they were done fighting _

“Hey Smokey!! Look at the ship!”

Smoker frowned, turning around to look towards the ship that they were setting up to steal, wondering what the big issue was

“Something’s wrong with it!!”

There was this weird sludge like thing on the ship.

It looked like that thing that gave Smoker nightmares as a kid when he first saw Ferngully!!

It also looked like it was being dropped off in pieces by some drones and it was -

Moving!?_ Was he seeing this right?! _

“What the hell is that?!” asked Smoker out loud, a bad feeling welling up inside of him as he saw his officers on the boat freaking out

Smoker picked up a fallen guard off the ground and held him up by his uniform’s collar

_ He needed answers - NOW _

“HEY! What are those things?!” demanded Smoker, furious as he kept one eye on the ship

“I dunno!! I never saw it before! I swear!” admitted the guard, looking as confused as the others

_ Useless! _

Smoker chucked the man back into the snow, unable to take his eyes off of the sludge

It was not only moving;_ his officers seem to be getting swallowed by it! _

As the different pieces were collecting together, it was getting bigger and bigger

Suddenly he saw one of his offices take out a flamethrower and started to set it on fire

_ For now he was going to ignore why one of them brought a flamethrower with them _

Smoker quickly saw them all cheering, slightly relieved that it seems they were able to stop it

But it was soon obvious that they had celebrate too soon

A massive explosion on the ship happened not only moments later, setting the ship ablaze

_ “MY MEN!!” _howled Smoker, too shocked to move

The blast sent the sludge thing flying in their direction, scattering it everywhere

_ Fuck! _

_ FUCK! _

_ There was too much going on at once! _He was not in the right mindspace right now!

“It’s dangerous here, Smoker!! We need to find shelter under a roof!” advised Tashigi, grabbing his sleeve to knock him out of his stupor

_ How did he mess up so badly?! _

“Yeah” merely replied Smoker as he kept trying to remember every face he saw on that ship - filing it away in his mind

The likelihood of survivors was slim. He’d have to get ready to contact all the family members after this

_ It was literally the worst part of the job _

_ “AH MASTER!” _

_ “Why are you outside?! It’s dangerous here!” _

Smoker’s head whipped up as he glared darkly at the figure on top of the wreckage in front of him

Clown Caesar! 

_ The one responsible for the murder of his men! _

“I knew it! You’re Clown Caesar, aren’t you?!”

“So it’s you! You’re the master!” added Luffy, who was back near him

Smoker blinked, having had no idea that Luffy had come back from inside the lab

“SHU HO HO HO HO! Indeed I am! And you are the Strawhat Gang and the Goa Police Force! Just give him a little while longer! He doesn’t like water, you see. So my drones are launching him away from the water! It’s highly explosive when on fire and it’s attracted to heat! So when it finds the active volcano, you’ll see the real terror it caused here four years ago!” bragged Caesar, making Smoker shake in anger

_ His officers got killed because of this fucking sicko! _

There was no point in doing all of this aside from causing pure chaos!

_ Also, did he fucking give a pronoun to his fucking sludge?! _

“GOTCHA!” screamed Luffy suddenly

Holy fuck, Luffy had tackled Caesar, his arms around the freak’s waist

“WHAT?!” cried out Caesar, completely shocked 

_ Well shit, maybe Luffy would be useful to add to the forces one day _

Smoker mulled it over for a moment and then shook his head

Nope, nevermind,_ he would probably try to murder him on day one and that would upset Ace _

“LET GO OF ME!!” shrieked Caesar and frankly, _ if Smoker never heard that shriek ever again he’d be too happy _

“THAT’S STRAWHAT! GET AWAY FROM MASTER!”

Smoker frowned sharply as he saw two men holding guns, aimed at Luffy and held out his jitte, ready to take them down

_ He wasn’t going to allow anyone shooting his future brother-in-law! _

But before Smoker could intervene – he heard another cry come from Caesar as he started to laugh 

“SHU HO HO HO! _ Suck it in!! _” 

It seems that Luffy had been forced to inhale something?!

_ Shit no! Caesar’s an expert of toxic gasses! Whatever shit he created would be worse than World War I mustard gas or Agent Orange! _

“IS HE INSANE!”

“HE JUST SUCKED UP ALL THE MASTER’S POISON GAS”

“THAT’S INSTANT DEATH!!”

_ FUCK _

_ FUCK _

Wait…

Luffy seemed…fine

_ “WHAAAATT?! _” yelled everyone, stunned

“Huh?” asked Caesar, stunned to his core as well

“Poison doesn’t seem to work much on me anymore! I guess because of Magellan!”

Smoker wasn’t sure what the fuck happened just now, but he breathed a sigh of relief that Luffy was okay

_ If Luffy died, Smoker doesn’t know if he could actually bring himself to ever go home _

“Take this!” yelled Luffy before kicking Caesar hard, sending him flying into a snow bank nearby

_ “MASTER!” _

_ “HOW DARE HE HURT OUT MASTER!” _

“Stay out of this, you maggots!” shrieked a voice behind the guards, surprising them

Luffy slid down the snow bank he was on and launched himself into Caesar as he kept punching him

But before Luffy could really do any damage, there was suddenly a bright flash

_ Shit?! Flash bombs?! _

“LUFFY!”

_ That can’t be good! _

Smoker turned his head just in time to see Luffy get thrown into the snow, stunned

“SMILEY! Onto Strawhat!”

Another drone dropped more sludge right by Luffy, it crawling close to him

Caesar threw something into the sludge and quickly hit a detonator in his hand

“SHU HO HO HO ERADICATE HIM!”

And there was another blast

_ FUCK! _

“Phew! That was a close one!” said Luffy happily, now behind Caesar

Smoker breathed a sigh of relief, _ not sure his blood pressure could handle this shit anymore _

Luffy turned around and roundhouse kicked Caesar to the ground, seemingly knocking him out

“ALRIGHT! Now I’ve really got you!” proclaimed Luffy happy as he grabbed Caesar

“ROBIN! FRANKY! Is there anything we can put him in?” Luffy asked happily

Smoker was merely glad that the kid was okay

“HANG ON, STRAWHAT! THE GOA POLICE FORCE IS TAKIN’ HIM IN, AND YOU WITH HIM!” yelled one of his officers, surprising Smoker

This is the guy who kept making googoo eyes at Ace too - _ guess he had no idea that Strawhat was his Ace’s precious little brother _

“Smoker, the Strawhats have Caesar!” pointed out Tashigi, stunned

_ “So it seems” _

Luffy then clutched his throat, taking a step back and then proceeded to collapse

_ WHAT?! _

“Oh dear, dear, dear” started Caesar as he stood up “Such dreadful disrespect!”

_ “LUFFY, WHAT’S WRONG?!” _

_ “What just happened?!” _

“Luffy?!” asked Tashigi, not even able to hide the worry in her voice anymore

Suddenly Franky and Robin also collapsed

_ W-What?! _

_ What the fuck was going on?! _

“I have to stop him!” declared Tashigi, rushing towards Caesar

“TASHIGI! NO!”

Smoker knew that he shouldn’t have ran after Tashigi

But she had been by his side for years now, and he wasn’t going to lose someone else today

He was very much his father’s son, _ as much as he loathed to admit it _

And if he had to go down swinging, trying to protect those he cared about

_ Then so be it _

The last thing Smoker remembered, was Clown Caesar holding him up

_ And then everything went dark_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnd there we have it, poor Smoker, Luffy always died like four times in his face so far!


	12. -LAW- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, I Am Not (When You Never Had a Cover to Begin With)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, here's another chapter this week because both of these chapters are kinda short! I hope you enjoy it!

“How come you left, Law?”

Law instantly tensed up as Chopper’s small voice broke through the canvas bag he was carrying the other in right now

Thankfully Chopper was actually really light and had been quiet the entire trek so far _ \- but that question cut him like a knife _

“Just be quiet in the bag. They can’t see you!” hissed Law, not really wanting to get into it right now

_ He had to focus _

“Well…If you won’t tell me, you better explain yourself to Luffy. When he got your last text, he ran out of class to go looking for you. He burst into every one of your friend’s classes, demanding to know if they knew anything about what you wrote. He then opened your locker and tore it up, looking for clues. And then he called Mister Rosisi at the station, to demand to know where you went”

Law stopped walking, shocked at what he was hearing

_ “What?” _

“Yeah. And then he spent all night looking for you when Mister Rosisi confirmed that you’ve gone missing. Like, _ all night. _ Ace found him looking for you in the forest in the morning. And then every single day, he goes to see Mister Rosisi and Bepo and asks if they heard anything about you. Mister Rosisi had to make him swear he’d go to school because he was skipping to look for you. And every weekend, he’d go out looking for you even more, traveling long distances. At first he’d go alone, but we convinced him to start taking us along. This weekend we wound up in this area, and that’s how we got here” explained Chopper

Law felt like a fucking asshole now

That’s why they wound up at Punk Hazard

_ It was because Luffy was looking for him! _

“He…He was supposed to just forget about me. I broke up with him so that he wouldn’t go looking for me! Of course he did the exact oposite” muttered Law, frustrated

_ This wasn’t what he had wanted for Luffy! _

“Luffy never abandons his friends and family. _ And he loves you so much, _ Law, you had to know that he’d hunt you down and wouldn’t stop until he got an answer! He kept saying ‘I think ‘Mingo might have gotten him!’. He was really worried about you!” 

“I…I guess he wasn’t particularly wrong about that…”

_ Doflamingo did have him _

Trapped in this hellish nightmare for years now

Which is why he finally wanted to end it all! So that the people he loved would stop being dragged into his mess!

I_ t was his fault for forcing Doflamingo to take him into the gang! _ And now people kept getting hurt because of his dumb decision!

“We’re at the rear door of the lab now! You can’t talk anymore! Caesar and the woman will be in the main lab. I’ll find a way to get them out of the room, so you can steal the notes for the drugs and study it until I get back, okay?”

“Roger! But…if you can just walk up to the guy, can’t you capture him yourself?” asked Chopper, Law could feel him sinking down more into the bag, to be more hidden

“It’s more complicated than that” admitted Law, wishing it was that simple

Law walked inside the lab, looking around, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was only occupied by Monet

Good. _ She was easier to trick than Caesar was _

“You won’t find the master in here” stated Monet as she kept typing away on her laptop, humming softly to herself

“Where did he go?” asked Law as he carefully set down the canvas bag behind the couch, making sure it stayed out of sight

_ It was now all on you, Chopper! _

“Knowing his sick hobbies, I’d guess he’s gone outside to observe the battle” guessed Monet, smirking at Law

“So, I’ve done what I needed to do here and since the cops are starting their show their faces, I need to make myself scarce. So I’m planning to leave soon”

“Hmm, I guess your daddy’s going to hear about this, huh? That’s too bad, it’ll be lonely without you” teased Monet, sing-songy

It took everything Law had to not openly roll his eyes

_ He needed to calm down, play it cool _

_ It wasn’t the time to beat her senseless for calling Cora ‘Daddy’ _

“But, before I go, I need your help with something. I want a second pair of eyes on something I’ve been working on and you’re actually better at chemical compounds than he is. Do you mind coming with me? It’s in my room”

“Oooh, are we going on a date? How lovely!” replied Monet as she got off her seat, landing on her bird prosthetics, wings raised

Honestly Law would think she looked beautiful if he didn’t hate her so fucking much

Instead he just stared at her, deadpanned

“You’re so cold!” stated Monet as she followed behind Law, who led her out of the lab “What is it anyways?”

“You’ll find out”

“Fine, I was bored anyways” replied Monet 

Law quietly led her down the hall, wondering if leading her to his room was really such a good idea?

_ She might think he wants to sleep with her or something _

Fuck – _ he was not willing to do that! _

Guess worst comes to worst, he could just use Shambles on her

_ Have her think they did something? _

Yeah, if it comes to that

Because even though he and Luffy technically broke up - _ Law still didn’t want to cheat on Luffy _

Honestly, he might as well become celibate or something, the idea of sleeping with anyone else just felt kinda...wrong right now

Law stumbled suddenly, grabbing his chest as a sharp pain hit his heart

_ “HUH?!” _

“Law?” asked Monet innocently, tipping her head

“WHO IS IT?!” howled Law, looking forward into the dark hallway

_ There was someone there! _ He couldn’t tell anything about them, but he knew someone was there!

At the end of the hallway, in the shadows, there was someone! _ Law could feel it in the air! _

“What’s wrong? You seem to be in pain?” asked Monet, circling around Law

_ Another shock _

Law fell to his knees, clutching his heart in agony

_ Holy shit this fucking sucked! _

“Who is it?! Who’s there?!” asked Law again weakly as he collapsed on the ground, barely clinging on to consciousness

_ “It’s me” _

_ No _

_ NO _

_ NO NO NO NO _

From the shadows emerged Vergo, standing in front of Law

“Hhhrgg what are you doing here?!” hissed Law

_ He had run away to this island to get the fuck away from Vergo!! _

Law then heard Monet giggle

_ Oh fuck no _

“Did you really think _ He _ didn’t know what was going on? We don’t trust Caesar either. That’s why he went through the trouble of planting Monet here” explained Vergo

Fuck!

_ FUCK! He had fucked up! _

When he made the deal with Caesar to keep his mouth shut about being here, _ Law never suspected that Monet would be the one ratting him out _

_ Fuck _

_ Fuck fuck fuck fuck _

Monet went behind Vergo and giggled more, clearly very proud of himself

“So, you’re now part of the Warlord Program? Quite a promotion since I last saw you at school” mused Vergo

“Vergo!! When…When did you get here?!” demanded Law, he needed to know when he fucked up!

_ How did he not notice Vergo on the island?! He scouted constantly! _

“Just now. I was working diligently at Dressrosa High as it’s current Vice-Principal while on leave from my duties as County Sheriff and I decided to come see how things were going here. There was a SAD delivery, so I hitched a ride back with them” explained Vergo, casually

_ “What did I do to deserve this?!” _ asked Law, trying not to sound as scared as he was

“If you had done anything, _ you wouldn’t be breathing right now _ ” warned Vergo “You can’t hide things from us adults, Law. _ You should know that _”

“Then…I’ll just have to make you disappear!” yelled Law as he mustered up everything he had and grabbed his nodachi, ready to kill

_ If he killed Vergo, it would be over! _

But then he felt another strong shock to his heart, sending him collapsing to the ground

Fuck, if this is what it felt like - the Captain was going to have his ass

_ If he survived this _

“Oh…And one more thing, _ learn your place _” Vergo then grabbed a nearby metal pole and slammed it down on Law’s head

There was a thunderous cracking sound - Law instantly knew it was his skull

The last thing he heard before blacking out was

_ “It’s mister Vergo to you”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh, Law got too confident! And yes, we skipped Cora again! I swear we'll get back to him! Just, some stuff happened at the exact same time, so I gotta, y'know?


	13. -SMOKER- Never Trust A Nice Guy in a White Suit (Another One Who’s Getting a New Asshole When I’m Sober)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that both of our heroes (?) have been knocked unconscious - what happens now??

_“How did you know – it’s my favourite”_

Smoker grunted slightly, his hearing was muffled, but he could feel himself regaining consciousness

_But that wasn’t the sound of Ace’s voice _

“You’ve got a little leftover stuck on your cheek”

_A woman?! The only girl who should ever be in his bed is Justice!_

Smoker cracked an eye open slightly and frowned, looking around the room

He was still in the lab

He was also chained up

And also still drugged up

_Great_

“I’d love to observe this experiment. Everyone outside will die” casually announced the man's voice, _as if discussing the weather_

Smoker’s eyes shot open, furious

_Who the fuck-?!_

His eyes widen in furry, his nostrils flaring as he saw the source of the voice

_Vergo?!_

_How_

_What_

_Suddenly everything made sense_

_The missing kids_

_How this lab stayed hidden_

_Everything!_

_Vergo was a dirty turncoat rat!_

“HEY VERGO! _Those are the G-5 men out there!_ Your recruits that you personally trained!” screamed Smoker, beyond furious

“Right, good point” answered Vergo as he took the piece of hamburger steak on his cheek and…_ate it_

_Well, it wasn’t as different as when Ace would pass out mid-chew of his food and keep chewing once he woke up_

_But at least that shit was already in his mouth!_

“Anyway, this is quite the line up of faces to see all in one prison cell. It’s a nice view” stated Vergo as he walked up to the cell they were all in, haughty as hell

_Fucking piece of fucking shit!!_

_How could he!?_

Inside the cell, not only was Smoker chained up, but Tashigi as well as Robin, Franky, Luffy and Law

_Great_

“Makes you think of the old days, doesn’t it? Stuck in the same cell” teased Robin, making Smoker’s blood pressure go up

_Do Not Bring Up Alabasta!!_

“Oh yeah! You guys had me and Smokey captured back in Alabasta!” continued Luffy, chuckling -_ apparently he was AMUSED by this_

_WHAT DID I JUST SAY IN MY HEAD?!_

“ALL OF YOU! Shut up!!” howled Smoker, furious, his head still pounding from the drug

_This wasn’t the goddamn time to joke around! _They were in real fucking trouble and needed to find a solution to get the fuck out of here!

“Smoker…How am I supposed to process this awful emotion?” asked Tashigi softly. 

Apparently she had been hog tied and thrown at his feet

_Honestly, maybe it was for the best _– Smoker didn’t particularly want to see the look of despair on his own face that he knows Tashigi was currently making

“Your worst fears have been confirmed. Caesar’s abductions of those kids was covered up and labelled as ‘traffic accidents’ and the mastermind was the very head of our County police department? True, it seems fitting for the G-5 with its reputation… _but it’s a real mockery of our badge!_” snarled Smoker, pissed off

_How could he have been so incredibly blind?!_

Now people have suffered greatly because he hadn’t noticed that _his own superior was crooked!_

“I don’t blame you for not noticing” started Law, sighing “Vergo hasn’t suddenly gone turncoat or anything. He’s a gang member through and through. He enlisted on Joker’s orders before he even made a name for himself”

Smoker frowned sharply, scrambling his mind, _this whole time?!_

“Joker...the name of a black market broker. I’m disgusted with myself. How could I fail to pick up the stench of a sewer rat right under my very nose?” admitted Smoker, snarling

“Why don’t you stow the disappointment and instead find admiration?” offered Vergo, standing in front of the cage, directly in front of Smoker “For the sewer rat who avoided the hunter’s sharp gaze, Smoker?” 

_Like fuck he’d admire him!_

“From the day you transferred from Loguetown, in the other County, to being the Chief of police in Goa, I’ve been on maximum alert. You have no idea how happy I am knowing that I’m finally free of that crushing stress. And you know it means that my secret identity had been revealed to you, right?” casually explained Vergo, clearly proud of himself

_That smug fucking asshole!_

The smug asshole that was _probably going to kill him_

_Otherwise he’s a fucking idiot_

“I will ensure your silence by seeing to it that you die here, Smoker and Tashigi. Your men outside will be given to Caesar for his plan. But don’t worry, It’ll go in the books as an accident, just like always._ It’s a pity, I heard you’ve been planning a wedding, Captain_”

Smoker saw red

_How dare this piece of fucking shit bring that up?!_

Smoker could feel his face getting red and hot as he snarled, the anger making him shake

Vergo threw a smirk Smoker’s way and turned around, walking back to the monitors

Smoker wanted to yell every threat under the sun possible at this walking piece of shit but he knew there was no fucking point

_They needed to get out of here and NOW!_

“Hey Torao, I got a question. Who’s this Joker you keep talking about?” asked Luffy, leaning slightly against Law

Subtlety was never a strong point of Ace’s punk little brother _and this wasn’t the goddamn time to snuggle up to your boyfriend!_

“Oh, it’s how I know Vergo. Joker’s is his underground alias. It’s Doflamingo” explained Law, leaning into Luffy in return

_Of fucking course it is_

Smoker’s head was pounding too much for this bullshit

“Shu ho ho ho! Sorry about the wait, Vergo!” announced Caesar as he came into the room

_Of course Caesar now had to slither in like fucking snake he was_

“Not a problem. I’ve just been snacking on coffee and cookies...weird, the cookies are gone”

“I didn’t give you any cookies” pointed out Monet, sitting around the small coffee table with Vergo

_When the fuck that woman had one, escaped jail and two, become a bird, was fucking beyond Smoker’s capacities right now_

“Oh right. I didn’t snack on cookies. When does the experiment begin, Caesar?” asked Vergo, nonchalantly

Whatever this ‘experiment’ was, he planned on killing his own men - _and that Smoker couldn’t forgive_

“Very soon, get the video up, Monet” ordered Caesar, before he turned to Vergo again, looking annoyed “Can’t you keep a rein firm around your men, Vergo?! I broke into a cold sweat when I saw that Smoker was here!_!” _

Smoker raised a brow slightly

He wasn’t aware that he had such a reach, reputation-wise

_Honestly, his father would be proud_

“He’s a wild dog...There’s no controlling him. But that all ends here” announced Vergo

“This look suits you, Law!” _jesus fucking christ, why was that freak so close to the cage’s bars like that?! _Smoker wasn’t in the mood for Caesar’s face sticking through the bars towards them “Shu ho ho! You could hardly lay a finger on Vergo, eh? Looks like our deal paid off handsomely for me!” 

Smoker listened quietly, _trying to figure out what the hell Caesar meant by that_

“It never pays to trust others, Law._ You reap what you sow!! _A bitter lesson you’ve now learned! You should thank your teacher! Vergo, you see, now has the remote trigger for your heart”

And as if on command, Vergo stood up and made his way besides Caesar and pulled out the slim silver pen-like object and pressed a button

_Fuck! He recognized that fucking thing!_

Sending Law into convulsion as he screamed in pain

“HUH?! TORAO?!” yelled Luffy, clearly confused and scared for the other

_That stupid fucking kid!! He did it to himself?!_

“I’m sure even you failed to notice that Monet tailed you and overheard your entire plan! I’m so disappointed in you Law! I thought I had finally made a friend!” whined Caesar through his goading..._which was a weird combo_

“So, your brilliant assistant saved your hide..” started Law, but then he smirked

_Oh fuck kid, what are you going to say now?_

“I should have been more careful around her. I figured that with a boss so stupid that she wasn’t worth paying attention to” 

_God fucking damnit, kid!!_

Caesar’s fury was indescribable as he grabbed the device from Vergo and tapped continuously on the button, sending Law into more violent convulsions

“SHUT YOUR MOUTH, YOU LITTLE FOOL!” howled Caesar

Law finally stopped convulsing, coughing to get some oxygen into his lungs

_Christ, that can’t have been fun_

“Uurrgh” moaned Law

“How is he shocking your heart, Torao?!” asked Luffy, completely lost

_Looks like nobody explained the heart device to Luffy_

“Undone by your own creation? _What a disgrace_” muttered Smoker, but then something came to him

If Law’s heart was being shocked - 

_“Where’s the one associated with my heart then?!_” asked Smoker

_Did that dumb kid lose it?!_

“I’ve got it right here!” proudly declared Caesar as he pulled out the device in his jacket, staring right at Smoekr as his thumb hovered over the button “SQUI-”

_Fuck, this was gonna hurt like a bitch_

Smoker seized himself up, waiting for the blow

_If he was going to die, he’s going to do it with some fucking dignity _

“Master, the video feed is ready” announced Monet as she came back into the room

“Ah good! Display it!” announced Caesar, now completely distracted as he put the device away 

_Fuck_

Guess he was living for now

Law let out another moans, writhing on the ground

_Smoker can’t say he could say the same about Law though_

Fuck, he needed to figure out how to get the fuck out of here

Too bad his last brain cells weren’t working properly 

Being drugged was_ a fucking bitch_

_Thanks Law_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we have it! Lots of chaos happening and Law got knocked on his ass again, good times
> 
> Cora is back next week! I hope you're looking forward to him!


	14. -CORAZON- The Road That Takes You Home (Sweeeet Home Alab- Wait, That’s Not Where We Live!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cora's back! Enjoy the new chapter! It's getting hella cold in my end of the world

  


  


_ “Urgh, these roads suck! _ ”

  


It had snowed pretty hard and it seems that outside of the main cities centers, nobody really bothered to plow properly

“At least there’s nobody else out here” pointed out Bepo, his head out of the open window, enjoying the cold air blowing in his face

Sometimes Cora swears he was raising _ a polar bear and not a teenage boy _

It’s cold, damnit!  _ Close the window! _

“Heeey get back in here, that’s how people get decapitated!” pointed out Cora, laughing as he gave Bepo’s back a pat

“I didn’t realize we were this close to G-5” muttered Bepo as he sat back down, looking over his own map that he drafted

“Yeah the GPS says we’ll be there in about 20 minutes” 

_ “You insult me with that thing!” _ huffed Bepo, puffing his cheeks 

“It’s only because neither of us have ever been there! You can verify your map on the way up and we’ll use it to get back!” promised Cora, not wanting to start trouble - he knew how Bepo was about his maps

“Hmm, fine. Also, I bet you an ice-cream sundae at Makino’s that nobody ever got decapitated by sticking their head out of a moving window!” challenged Bepo, smirking

“Okay, you’re  _ so _ on!”   


  


“Whoah, this police station is huge, Cora”

“Well,you see Bepo, that’s what all those ridiculous fines and bail money for pot possession gets you” exclaimed Cora, smirking as both he and Bepo got out of the car

“Wow Cora,  _ are you criticizing the police establishment? _ ” teased Bepo, snickering

“Shit when am I not? I count my blessings every day that I work for a boss that couldn’t be bribed or corrupted if God himself came down and tried to” 

“...I really want to see Smoker square off against God now” 

“Okay, _ now I do too! _ But we are getting distracted, Bepo!” replied Cora, taking his messenger bag out of the backseat with all of his files “We have to focus! Alright! Your mission is to hang out in the park behind the station. Ask parents and their kids if they’ve heard of any kidnapping or kids going missing. I’ll go into the station itself and see if I can get any answers on all these rumours of missing kids!”

“Gotcha!”

“I’ll go find you in the park when I’m done and then we can go out for dinner!”

“I’m on it!”   


  


After making sure Bepo got to the park alright, Cora quickly climbed up the steps of the G-5 Police Station, hoping to get some sort of answers

He hadn’t made an appointment or anything because he knew if he did, that the cops inside would have a prepared statement for him. And if Cora had learned anything in all of his years as a spy is that if you want to catch someone in a lie,  _ catch them off guard _

Cora walked into the station and was surprised to come face to face with a mob of people at the front desk, clearly desperate to be listened to by the officer in front of them

Frowning sharply, Cora backed up and leaned against the wall in the back, listening carefully 

_ “Please look for our children!” _

“Just one more time, that’s all we ask!”

“It’s pointless! Too pointless!” yelled the officer behind the desk, crossing his arms behind his back

Every pore in the officer’s body oozed how much he didn’t care for these poor people

Now looking carefully, Cora could see that they were all holding pictures of children

Wait -  _ All of these people have kids missing?! _

“We’re begging you to use the bureau’s power to find them!” pleaded one parents, desperate

“Please bring this up with Officer Tashigi if you can!”

_ Whoah, what? _

“We heard that she is very receptive to requests like our own!”

Cora couldn’t help but smile, proud of Tashigi, to think that she had a reputation in another town for being a cop that helps parents find their lost kids

_ “WHAT?!  _ Enough of this! I will not hear such contempt from the likes of you!!” yelled the officer as he shoved all the documents the parents had to put on the counter to either the ground or sending them flying in the parent’s faces

_ Holy shit, what the fuck!? _

“We’re fellow officers of the G-5 county! And now you doubt official police reports and accuse us of incompetence?! How dare you!! You dare too much!” bellowed the officer, infuriating Cora

_ Their kids are missing and you’re dismissing them!! _ They have every right to keep coming in here and beg for your goddamn help!!

“Gya hahaha! You’re going too far Constable Yarisugi” 

Cora glared at the office, taking out his pen and pad of paper and quickly jotted down this asshole’s name and the guy laughing besides him

He was going to report this to Smoker the moment he can!!  _ This was unacceptable!! _

“Now shut up and listen to your betters! Listen too hard! Your children suffered accidental deaths! And that’s that!”

Cora frowned again, mulling it over

It was awfully vague of an answer and they never seem to let the parents see the bodies,  _ so how the hell are they confirmed dead?? _

“We’ve gone over this too many times with Sherif Vergo!! We conducted ten thousand searches!”

Cora froze, dropping his pen in shock at the name

  


_ No _

_ No, it couldn’t be?! _

...Could it?

“He’s exaggerating!” screamed one of the parents, angry 

“If you keep complaining about this, I’ll have you all executed for obstruction of police work!”

_ WHAT _

“Gyahaha! You’re going too far!’

“Hmph!  _ You want Tashigi?! _ Far too presumptuous! Yes, I wish she was under my command!”

_ What no EW NO YUCK! STAY AWAY _

Cora really didn’t like how the officer said _ that _ it was beyond leery and creepy and _ nope no way, nuh uh _

“Wish too much! She’s the right hand of Captain Smoker of Goa!”

As she should be!  _ Far away from your creepy ass! _

“And I’ve got far too little time to deal with a bunch of people who can’t get over an incident from last summer! Now GET OUT!”

The office started to push everyone out of the police station, grabbing Cora as well, shoving him out of the station

The only thing that made Cora thankful for that is that he wound up tripping on his own pen that he dropped and while losing his balance, he crushed that Yarisugi’s foot

He did make a point to leave with the group though as Yarisugi was howling in pain

_ It was the least he could do _

  
  


_ “Lazy bastard!” _

“I wonder if Sheriff Vergo really has heard of this” wandered one of the parents out loud

“He once protected the city from gangs. He was a proper gentleman, not like the rest of the G-5!”

“Would he really claim it’s an accident?”

“Neighborhood kids are playing in the streets...and the next thing we know, they’re dead in a traffic accident that nobody saw?!” said one parents, sobbing

“How are we expected to believe that?!”

“They’re alive!”

“The children must be alive somewhere! I just know it!”

_ “Uh, excuse me. Do you all have a moment?” _

The crowd of parents turned to look at Cora, surprised at the new face

“Oh hi, hello! My name is Detective Rosinante Trafalgar!” started Cora as he pulled out his wallet, showing the crowd his badge “I actually came here to G-5 on behalf of Officer Tashigi to continue this investigation for her while she was on a sting and it looks like my timing was impeccable!” 

“Wait, Officer Tashigi sent you?!” asked one of the parents, looking hopeful 

“Yeah, well, not directly. She consulted me on this case after I kept getting wind of kids going missing. After reviewing all the information she had gathered, I started to smell a rat so I came to see if I could get anything out of the station today. And here you all are...but I’m afraid that I don’t see them willing to let me interview you here and make an official report. If you’re all willing, if you’re ever able to come to Goa and file the missing report there. I can make sure that it actually goes somewhere” offered Cora, hoping one or two would take the bait

_ If the report is filed in Goa, it couldn’t be hidden or covered up _

“Just let me go home and grab my file on this and we’ll meet you at the station in Goa!” exclaimed one of the parents

“Me too! I just gotta grab my car!”

“I’ll be there as fast as I can drive!”

Cora was stunned at how enthusiastic they were all were, ready and willing to drive up to Goa

“Perfect! I’ll grab my son and I’ll leave right away for Goa! I’ll be ready to meet you all over there! Also, if one of you happens to have a picture of Sherif Vergo,  _ I would love to see it! _ ” 

  


Once the parents are scattered to rush home to get their vehicles, Cora quickly ran across the street, running up to Bepo who was talking to a group of boys

“Bepo! Bepo! We gotta go back to Goa right now!” Cora grabbed the collar of Bepo’s shirt, tugging it slightly

“Huh? W-” 

“AHH BAD MAN IS KIDNAPPING YOU!” screamed a small boy, kicking Cora right in the shin

_ Holy SHIT did that hurt!! _

“Oh no, it’s okay guys! This is my dad! But thanks for the back up!” replied Bepo with a thumbs up

“Oops! RUN!” the kids quickly scattered as Cora swore under his breath, crouching to hold his shin

“We...Gotta go...found the parents!! They’re coming to Goa!” finished Cora as he regained himself 

_ “What?!” _

“Yeah! They were in the station! I’ll explain everything but we’re going to need that map of yours to make a map of where the kids were last seen before they disappeared, is that okay?”

“_Okay? _ C ora, I’ll gladly mark it myself for you! Let’s find those kids!”

Cora smiled brightly, Bepo was a great kid

  
  


_ It took literal hours _

Thankfully Bellemere and Wiper had helped him interview all the parents. Bellemere was always compassionate towards other parents and Wiper had been looking for missing Shenandian kids for a while too, so he could relate to the parents

“We’ll do everything we can to find Mocha!” exclaimed Cora, closing her newly made folder

_ Sind _

_ Doran _   


_ Uzu _

_ Konbu _

_ Biyo _

_ Ally _

_ And now Mocha _

These were all the kids he personally had made files on, but there were countless

And it seemed that they have all gone missing from G-5 specifically which raised massive red flags for Cora

_ How can all these kids go missing from the same city and nobody raised an alarm?! _

“Thank you, Officer Trafalgar. So much! Nobody else seemed to care and suddenly you and Officer Tashigi came in like a guiding light, willing to not only listen to our plight but actually try to help us” pleaded Mocha’s father, tearfully

“Of course, I’m a parent myself. I understand completely” 

_ Also my own kid is missing _

“Ah! Finally! She got back to me!” piped up Mocha’s mother, thrilled, looking at her phone

“Huh? What’s going on?”

“My sister is a court sketch artist! You said you wanted a photo of Sherif Vergo, but he hates being photographed, so nobody could find any, so I asked my sister if she ever sketched him. And she said yes! She sent me the sketch, look!” said Mocha’s mother, holding up the phone for Cora to see

_ Fuck _

_ FUCK _

_ It was him!! _

These kids were definitely being kidnapped!!  _ But for what!? _

“Could...Could you send me that photo? Here, I’ll write down my email and phone number! That way too, if you hear anything new about Mocha or any of the kids, feel free to tip me off! I’ll also let you know the second we find anything!” offered Cora “Now c’mon, you’ve had a long day, I’ll walk you out”

  


“Wheuf! I had no idea there was so many missing kids in the county” muttered Bellemere, exhausted 

“Surprised so many white kids going missing passed through the wire unnoticed personally” pointed out Wiper, frustrated  _ “ _ Usually there would be an uproar _ ” _

“I have the answer to that” exclaimed Cora, walking towards them holding a newly printed photo “And his name is Vergo”

“The County Sheriff? Rosi, what do you know?” asked Bellemere frowning “Everyone’s usually praising this guy” 

“I know he’s the previous Corazon before me, to begin with”

Both Bellemere and Wiper stood up, shocked, knocking their chairs away as they did so

_ “He’s a Donquixote associate?!”  _ cried out Bellemere shocked

“Hmm, associate is putting it mildly. He’s a top ranking capo” precised Cora 

  


_ “Huh? Vice Principal Vergo is a capo?”  _

Everyone turned around to look stunned at Bepo

_ “What did you just say, kid?” _ asked Wiper

“Uh...that drawing? It’s of Vice Principal Vergo” explained Bepo, looking between them, trying to figure out what’s going on

_ “I knew it! _ That confirms it! The Donquixote gang infiltrated Goa High!” declared Cora, proud of himself for bringing it all together

“WHAT?!” screamed Bellemere, slamming her hands down on a desk “My Nami has been going to school with fucking Donquixote capos running the school?! Why didn’t you tell me this, Rosi?!”

Oh, uh, _ right _

“Honestly because it was only a hunch since Friday! It only became a legit suspicion on Saturday and now it’s fully confirmed!” admitted Cora, holding his hands up, trying to defend himself from the blows Bellemere was throwing at him right now, trying to hit Cora

“Uurrgh, fine. You’re forgiven!” declared Bellemere, crossing her arms “So, what now? We do a bust?”

“We can’t without the Captain’s say-so. Especially considering we have no real motive or proof” pointed out Wiper “This is like fucking Eneru all over again. Our hands are tied because the fucking law protects the crooks”

“We can’t rely on the law for this...Well, not quite right, we can’t rely on the legal rules, but we can’t definitely rely on Law for this” 

Both Bellemere and Wiper looked at Cora confused, and then it dawned upon them

“ _ Are you sure about this, Rosi?  _ You’re going to put that kid up against a giant like Doflamingo?” asked Bellemere, carefully, trying to get a read on him

“Well, it’s not really me putting him up to Doflamingo. It’s Law himself doing it. This is why he ran. Remember Bepo? You said that the vice principal said he wanted to talk to Law and then he disappeared?”

“Yeah! That’s exactly right!” confirmed Bepo

“The minute Law saw Vergo - he instantly knew that the Doflamingo gang infiltrated the school. Meaning he didn’t run away to escape,  _ he did it to regroup and plan. _ Law was being trained to be the next Corazon, he’s a fantastic strategist. His biggest issue is that he’s going to try to go at it alone. If he can get over that and start collecting allies, he has a chance. Honestly, if I was perfectly honest with myself and put my emotions aside for this, I’d have to admit. If anyone can come up and execute a strategy to take down the Donquixote Gang and Doflamingo -  _ it’s Law.  _ Nobody is able to think like Doflamingo,  _ except for Law _ ” 

He hated to admit it,  _ but Law had always been in real danger of becoming just like Doffy, _ which is why Cora had taken him away

_ But it also means that Law was the best person to take him down _

“So, basically this is a Luffy Scenario” muttered Bellemere, sighing loudly

“A Luffy Scenario?”

“Meaning; he’s going to do it, you can’t stop him, so the only thing you can really do is support him”

Cora laughed brightly

_ That was exactly right! _

“It also means that once Vergo is dealt with, the better. I’m going to start building a file to back up any possible future arrest of Vergo. But if we have a reason to suspect him of anything, and to take him out of the game, we need to take it” explained Cora “But I’m telling you right now, if I ever see this piece of shit again, I will not be able to stop myself from beating him to an inch of his life. He nearly killed Law years ago, _ and I have not forgiven him _ ”

Cora needed to be honest with his colleagues about this so that they wouldn’t be uh... _ surprised _

“We’ll look away” stated Bellemere, smirking “This fucker steals kids for god knows what, you take your shot at him”

“Agreed. Now, let’s get back to our regular work. It can’t be too obvious either that we’re going to be actively working to take down the County Sheriff” pointed out Wiper

“Agreed. We don’t talk about this until the Captain comes back?” offered Cora

Everyone nodded and went back to their desks

“Cora, this means Law’s coming home, right?” asked Bepo, a bright smile on his face

“Oh for sure, Law has Doflamingo exactly where he wants him -  _ in his sights. _ He’s going to come home and finish this” 

  


Cora just knew it

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT! Cora owes Bepo a sunday ; https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/head-of-the-class/


	15. -LAW- Time To Flip This Upside Down (Redemption Arc Begins Now)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly have no idea when the last chapter went live because it wouldn't let me post?? But then you all commented so that was fun!

Law groaned, cracking his eyes open as he blurrily gazed around him

_Right, _Caesar had shocked the hell out of his heart because of his sweet clapback

On one hand, that was a bad fucking mistake, but on the other hand

_He was honestly really proud of it_

His mother did warn him that his backtalk would get him in big trouble one day – _she probably didn’t mean an asshole shocking his heart though_

“How long was I out for?” mumbled Law, shaking his head slightly

“Only a few minutes” replied Smoker, seeming almost bored “Dr Evil there is about to start his livestream”

The guy was drugged up, tied up and he didn’t really seem bothered

It was weird, he was so used to seeing Smoker getting mad and shit not this calm shit

_…and making weird dated references either_

“He has subscribers and a streaming channel?” asked Luffy, confused

“No, it’s streaming to illegal brokers who buy his weapons” corrected Law, still feeling a bit groggy

“…Making their way from the burning side of the island, the Smilies, fragmented piece of Smiles, launching themselves forward and coalescing towards the center of the island. In time, they will reunite here on the icy side and when Smiley is whole, the experiment will begin!”

_“This is the shittiest episode of Planet Earth Ever”_ snarked Smoker

Law snorted, biting his lips, trying not to laugh

_He was not expecting that from the Captain!_

“I didn’t take you for a nature documentary type” replied Law, trying to ignore Caesar and his stupid slime thing

“Why? I like documentaries. You see cool shit and you get to learn cool shit”

“Oh yeah! Ace told me you two had binged the box sets of those recently!” pointed out Luffy happily

“Yeah, it took us a couple of weeks between our schedules though. But we got through Planet Earth and Blue Planet” confirmed Smoker, sighing as he closed his eyes

“Rather chatty right now, Captain, aren’t ya?” asked Law, knowing he was pushing it

_“Well, I’m rather drugged up right now, Law”_ answered Smoker, shooting a glare right at Law 

“Ah, yeah, right” 

Yeah, he was starting to feel rather bad about that honestly. He hadn’t needed to drug the Captain, but the other was too big of a threat 

Maybe if he hadn’t been so big and efficient, he wouldn’t have _needed_ to drug him!

_“I used Smiley to kill this island four years ago. He is an incarnation of the toxic H2S gas. The biggest problem with my last test was that those who were poisoned could still evacuate to safety in a weakened state. So I found that if I combined a new element to Smiley, his toxic gas carries an added effect that transforms him into a perfect killing machine!”_

“I can’t believe this freak named his sludge thing” muttered Smoker again, getting a shh from Tashigi, who unlike her Captain, was trying _very hard_ to concentrate on what Caesar what saying

Law needed Smoker to stop with the commentary because _he was about to burst out laughing and that will blow his whole plan out of the water_

_“Today, you will witness the birth of a brand new weapon! I call it ‘Land of the Dead’!”_

“The First World War wants it’s No Man Land name back, thanks” 

“Captain! _Stop!_” hissed Tashigi

Suddenly on the screen appeared a giant…candy looking thing, that clearly emanated something that would attract the Smilies to it, and once it absorbed the candy looking thing, it looked massive

“Man, that frog is huge!” stated Luffy in awe as everyone stopped to stare

And gasped when it exploded into a cloud of purple gas

_“This new gas covers the body like ash, seeping into the skin, instantly paralyzing it’s victim! Shu ho ho ho! Show me more! I want to see hell on Earth”_

All the joking suddenly stopped as Caesar sacrificed his own men to the gas, watching one by one, becoming grotesque figures of their past selves

To Law, it looks like the remnants of the people of Pompeii he had seen in his history books

_The fucking asshole of a joke of a scientist Caesar had actually pulled it off!_

“What is that?!” howled Smoker, stunned 

“All those people…are freezing solid!” stated Luffy, clearly unable to understand what just happened and then he let out a yell

“AHH! Look! It’s Zoro and the others! They’re being chased by the smoke!!” 

“What are they doing out there?! And why are they running so…weird” pointed out Franky

“Oh! The Samurai seems to have figured out that he had all of his limbs all along!” happily pointed out Robin

_Oooh right him_

“You’re right! I guess he won’t give me his legs then…” muttered Luffy sadly, making Law raise a brow, extremely confused at the statement 

_But they didn’t have time to unpack that right now_

“Hey! That’s not what’s important right now, Robin!!” 

_Way to just notice, Luffy_

“WATCH OUT, GUYS!! That smoke is dangerous!” yelled Luffy, trying to get their attention

Law sighed, feeling bad, Luffy probably didn’t notice the speaker that Caesar had in his hands, and they probably couldn’t hear him

“Friends of yours?” _uurggh, Caesar was right up to their cage again _“Shu lololo! No wonder they’re so tough to kill! But their lungs will give out eventually and then the gas will get them! In mere minutes, the island will be the true ‘Land of the Dead’ in which nothing can survive! Not a single soul outside of this lab will be left alive! And that includes you!”

Man, Smoker was right, _No Man’s Land would have been a much better name_

“You will now prove to the world that a gang member worth 400 million dollars, a notorious chief of police and even a Warlord are helpless before the fatal power of my land of the dead!”

Suddenly the whole cage started shaking as it was lifted up and started to leave the compound. The cage merely shifted back and went outside, left hanging on a crane, dangling outside of the lab

_Huh, this is perfect_

Law blinked, surprised as he heard yelling from below them

_“Our men!_” exclaimed Tashigi, shocked

“CAPTAIN! TASHIGI!” they all cried out excitedly, like Chihuahuas

_Fuck they were annoying!_

_“What’s gonna happen to us?!”_

_“We don’t wanna die!”_

Smoker stood up, looking down at the men on the ground

“Why don’t you tell them about Vergo, Tashigi?” suggested Smoker, clearly annoyed

_“Now’s not the time for that subject!!”_ yelled Tashigi, appalled that Smoker had even suggested it

“This place is built as solid as a fortress” pointed out Franky, looking at it over

“And well designed for large equipment” added Robin

_Yeah, those two were definitely married_

“This is some kinda pickle we’re in!” exclaimed Luffy

“I wasn’t counting on Vergo’s appearance but we’re not getting held up at this stage, Luffy” announced Law, breathing a sigh of relief that he was finally out of the lab “Stick to the plan and don’t screw up is imperative at this point! It’s time for our counter-attack”

Luffy blinked cutely like he did when he was confused

“Counter-attack”

“Yeah…Let’s clean this mess up” clarified Law “Well, more like clean up my mess, I guess” 

The G-5 officers kept yelling about not wanting to die or some crap, frankly, Law was getting beyond annoyed

“Is there anyone here who has the capacity to burn things? Like right now? If not, no big deal” asked Law

“Franky’s your man when it comes to fire! He can shoot lasers too! Hey! Yeah! Shoot lasers and blast these chains off!” announced Luffy, proudly

_Lasers?!_

_What?!_

_What kind of high school teacher is this man?!_

“I can’t do my Radical Beams without both arms free” explained Franky, sighing

“Can you burn that wooden wreckage down and to the right?” asked Law, praying for a miracle

Franky leaned his head over, stretching to get a look at the wreck

“Easily done, pal!”

If you had asked Law to explain what he was witnessing,_ he couldn’t_

Franky looked like he was going to throw up, and then he sucked in some air, his cheeks blew up in size and suddenly he had spout out fire?!

_How?!_

_What?!_

Thankfully, _whatever the fuck Franky did_, it worked, the wreck was now on fire, causing a massive cloud of smoke to envelope the cage

Everyone but the captain started to cough wildly, the Captain himself was just staring at Franky, himself not sure how to handle what he also just witnessed

_Fuck, he probably thinks it’s due to the drugs he’s on!_

“Thanks a lot, Trafalgar!! Now the smoke is coming up here!” whined Franky, between coughs

_“You’re the one who burned it”_ pointed out Law

_“Because you told me too!”_ yelled Franky, pissed at the blame he was getting

“Hahha you guys are weirdoes!” 

Law sighed at Luffy’s quip, reaching between his wrists, shifting a few things aside and suddenly the chains fell off as he got up

“There we go” 

_“HUH?!” _

“Now the security feed can’t see us due to the smoke” explained Law, pulling out his hidden Nodachi from his back

_“WHAT?!”_ yelled Tashigi stunned

“We’ve only got a little bit of time before they realise what’s going on” explained Law as he started to undo Franky’s chains – _might as well, _considering _he had just made fun of him_

“What did you- how?!” asked Luffy, surprised

“Mine were trick ones from the start. I’ve been switching the shackles with trick ones just in case they ever tried to shackle me” as Law was explaining it, he undid Robin and Luffy’s shackles

“YEAH! FREEDOM!”

_“_Don’t shout! They can’t suspect anything for now!_”_ chided Law, annoyed as he walked up to Tashigi and Smoker

_Now these two were currently a big fucking problem for him_

“Now, what to do with you two? You know too much – your fate entirely relies on _my whims_” stated Law as he reached into his coat, grabbing his syringe 

“You already know full well what you’re going to do, so quit wasting your time and –“

Law reached forward and shoved Smoker’s coat off his shoulder as much as he could and stabbed him in the arm, injecting the antidote for Shambles

He quickly did Tashigi right after, feeling kinda bad that her boobs were uh, _kinda all out there_ as he pushed the shirt and coat aside

“Huh?!”

“Wha-?!”

Tashigi shook her head, surprised, but then she looked down and let out a shriek, covering up her chest and rolled onto her side

“Just undo these chains!_ I’ll do anything you say!”_

_“Shut your mouth, Tashigi!” _roared Smoker, furious

_Ah!_ That’s the Smoker he knew!

“Are you going to beg for your life to a thug?!” 

_Okay, he deserved that_

_“We ought to beg for our lives, if that’s what it takes!”_ replied Tashigi, getting right into Smoker’s face, surprising even him “If we die here, every single one of our men will be slaughtered! And She- _and Vergo will cover it all up!_ Even the children! _And you swore to Ace that you’d come home!_” 

Law blinked, stunned at how low of a blow Tashigi just struck

Man, she wasn’t fucking around - _Law would have to remember not to piss her off_

“It seems that she has more sense than you” pointed out Law “Listen, Captain, I have no obligation to save you, but if you get out alive and ruin Vergo’s reputation, that would suit my ends. But you will not breathe a word to anyone that I’m going after Doflamingo, understood? _Especially you-know-who_” 

Law was too close now and he couldn’t have Cora coming in and trying to stop him - not this close to his goal and_ not when he was given that bastard on a golden crystal encrusted platter like this_

“Listen White Chase. Also, I want you to stay away from Caesar” cautioned Law, knowing he was taking a risk trying to make Smoker do _anything_ really “ If we start shocking each other’s hearts, it does me more harm than good. Don’t pull any stunts until I’ve taken my heart back from Vergo. You’re following my orders as long as we’re on this island, _got that?!_”

“This isn’t a request, it’s a demand. You give me that, I’ll give you your life” stated Law clear as day, _he wasn’t going to mess around!_

Now, _if he was actually able to kill Smoker and Tashigi_, he really didn’t know, so Law was really hoping that the other would take his bluff

_“Fine” _growled Smoker, clearly irritated as hell and his pride severely wounded “I’ll play your fucking game. But let me make one thing clear - I won’t say anything to you-know-who, but he’s a clever fucking bastard and you’re ignorant and naive as hell if you think he hadn’t pieced together exactly what you’re doing already”

Law paused as he undid Tashigi’s chains, surprised

_What?!_

“What do you mean?” asked Law, moving to undo Smoker’s shackles so that the other didn’t suspect Law of threatening him

“The only reason you were able to gallivant here for a whole fucking month is because he wanted to respect your boundries and wishes” explained Smoker, stretching out his arms once he was free, and quickly plopping in two cigars and lighting them up

Law was surprised, he had no idea that Cora was trusting him with all of this

“He has been extremely worried though” stated Tashigi quietly as she angrily buttoned up her shirt “And I’m mad at you for putting him in that state!”

Law opened his mouth to say something, but was suddenly surprised by yelling

“HEY TORAO! How do we get inside?!”

Law turned around, gaping as Luffy was not only out of the cage, but on the balcony below, that was attached to the outside of the lab

“HEY! How did he get outside of the cage?!” asked Law, shocked

“He busted through” explained Frankly calmly, gesturing to the hole now in the cage with his thumb _“This is one weak ass cage” _

“_Not this again! _Stop trying to get ahead, Luffy!” yelled Law, thankful that Luffy had distracted the current conversation

He didn’t want to get lecture by Smoker and Tashigi ever fucking again

_Especially not about Cora!!_

Since Law had investigated the lab inside-out, so he knew exactly how to disable the locking mechanism on the door from the outside and get the whole crew inside

Once inside though, it was a hot mess. They had to take down every single guard they came across. Honestly Law was pretty stunned at how good Smoker was in hand to hand combat considering he usually saw him armed with his big ass metal weapon

Which when they found, Smoker was easily able to take more guards out at once. Not only that - _he was fast_

A man Smoker’s size and the fact that Law rarely saw him without a cigar in his mouth, and right now, he was smoking two - he had no business being this fucking agile and_ not out of breath_

_What the fuck?!_

“Where are the commands for the shutters?!” asked Tashigi as she kicked a guy away from attacking Law “We need to let our men in before that gas gets them!” 

“Over here! C’mon! We’ll let your Rottweiler of a boss cover for us as we get to it! Smoker! _Cover us!_”

_“I don’t take orders from you!!” _howled Smoker as he bashed two guards against the wall at once and ran up to them, taking the lead in the front

_You sure follow them well, _though noted Law mentally, but wasn’t dumb enough right now to say it out loud

  
“WHAT?! Law?! Strawhat? Smoker?! What are you guys doing in here?! We thought the creepy dude had you guys locked up!?” noted the G5 men as they scrambled into the laboratory, Law watching on the second floor balcony with the group

They had managed to open the shutters and bring in all the surviving G5 officers

“At least now everyone can get inside” breathed Tashigi in relief as she started to count them

_Probably trying to figure out if anyone is missing_

“Heehee, this is getting fun!” exclaimed Luffy as he was cutely sitting on top of two guards he took down

_Fuck Law just wanted to kiss him_

_“To think I’ve stooped to working with you”_ hissed Smoker, shooting a glare in Law’s direction 

“WAIT WAIT WAIT DON”T CLOSE THAT SHUTTER!”

Law blinked, looking towards the closing shutter

_Who?_

What was Brownbeard? _Fuck him, he can stay outside_ mused Law as he kept his hand on the closing lever

Suddenly there was a loud slicing noise and Law gaped as the shutter shattered into pieces, precisely cut through and Brownbeard crashed in, carrying Usopp, Zoro, Brook and the Samurai, who was holding up his blade

Law paused, shocked

_The Samurai was actually that good?! What the fuck kind of sword did he have to do that kind of damage?!_

_...Was he actually a samurai?!_

“Holy fuck! They cut the shutters!”

“Now the gas is gonna get inside!!”

_Urgh, how frustrating_

“Hey! Sounds like a party down there! Guess the rest of the gang made it!” noted Luffy happily, as he looked down over the railing and smirked “It’s time to raise some hell”

_Fuck, that was hot_

No! _Not now!_

“Luffy! Pay attention!” called Law, needing to get this on the road

“Are we getting started?” asked Luffy, shifting in his seat on top of the dudes he was sitting on to face Law

“Listen to me, you two” started Law as he pointed to Tashigi and Smoker “I don’t want you interfering with me or his crew. They have their own mission, and I don’t need them having to deal with your ragtag excuses for police officers”

“Got it…” mumbled Smoker, really annoyed still

_Man, what a bitch baby, just take the backseat for once!_

“HEY TORAO! GET DOWN HERE” 

Law frowned, looking down, surprised

_When did Nami get here?_

_“The dream is dead”_ mumbled Sanji as Law gave him the injection

Guess Sanji secretly really loved being Nami

_Maybe Sanji had some stuff to work out, but he wasn’t going to ask because this was not the time or place, honestly_

“Everyone here, listen to me! The lab is surrounded by poison gas, but there is one way to get right to the bridge without coming into contact with the air outside! The gas can’t travel over water, therefore it’s confined to the island. There’s a giant gate marked Structure R-66 and it leads directly to the water, with a built-in dock. There should be a transport boat there”

Law took a deep breath, knowing the next bit would put people in a panic, but he needed to be clear

“We only have 2 hours at best! I have no taste for mass murder, but if we’re not out before then, I can’t guarantee your survival”

The Doomsday Clock was ticking - _and it was minutes away from midnight!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you've all enjoyed drugged Smoker! He's no more!


	16. -SMOKER- Babysitting Gig from Hell (I’m Too Damn Old For This Shit)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DID YA ALL MISS ME!
> 
> Sorry about the delay, technical issues, life issues, pandemic issues, etc etc, anyways! I'm finally on a legit vacation with a new keyboard that works so let's motherfucking do this!

“WHAT?!” yelled the G-5 officers, stunned

“Something’s gonna happen to the lab?” casually asked Luffy

“We’re going to try something with unpredictable results” replied Law, just as casually

Yeah, _ Smoker was going to kill both of them for sure once they got off this fucking island _

“Ah! I see! In that case, I’m coming for you Caesar! No more losing my breath! I’ll beat you down and kidnap you!” announced Luffy as he ran off

_ No wonder Ace felt the need to keep this kid on a leash _

“G5!” yelled Smoker from over the balcony “You find all the abducted squirts and head for R-66! We’re gonna steal the tanker at the port and blow this joint!” 

“The Strawhats are moving! We can’t let them get away!” announced one of the officers, making Smoker roll his eyes

“Take the men and go ahead, Tashigi” ordered Smoker, ignoring the office in question

“Smoker? Where are you going?” asked Tashigi, clearly worried_ “Is it Vergo? _”

Well, _ there was no point in lying to her _

“The law says a man can’t take matters into his own hands, Tashigi” started Smoker “But I ain’t gonna stand by and let him make a mockery of our badge and our county. We worked too hard for that!”

“Then let me come with you!” offered Tashigi “He’s really dangerous! And if something happens to you-”

Smoker sighed, smiling softly

_ He really did love her noble spirit _

“Then who will protect my men? See those idiots to safety, along with the brats” ordered Smoker

Smoker needed her to listen to him on this

_ “Smoker” _

Especially considering the risk

“And if anything does happen to me, _ tell Ace I’m sorry _”

And Smoker ran off, not allowing Tashigi to say something to change his mind

  
  


_ Ace’s little brother was a steamroller of a person _

Smoker was rather impressed as he watched him barrel through all the guards - who would think such a small kid would be able to cause so much damage??

What was he?! - _ 5’7” at most?! _

Smoker was following behind Luffy, a good few feet away from him to make sure he wouldn’t get hit in the crossfire that was Luffy. But the problem with steaming people down in a straight line is that you will have to deal with those coming at you at the sides. Smoker gave himself the responsibility of taking those out

_ Can’t let the squirt do all the heavy lifting _

But Smoker had to admit that it honestly was getting tirying of zigzagging from side to side as _ fucking Law Trafalgar _ merely took his time getting down the stairs, _ casually _ , as if none of this _ is that important to him _

_ Fucking teenagers _

Also this infernal beeping had recently started and it was _ annoying as fucking hell _

“Law! What does that beeping mean?” barked Smoker, hoping that Law knew how to shut the fuckign thing up!

“It’s a warning that the gate is going to be shut. There’s only one hallway to Structure B up ahead” explained Law

_ “WHAT?!” _ yelled Smoker, beyond annoyed now as he swung his jitte right into a guard’s face, hearing the tell-tale sound of a skull cracking

“They’re trying to trap us in. You’ll want to make sure your men get through here pretty quick. You want to go through that hallway to get to where Caesar and Vergo probably are” explained Law as he pointed towards a hallway with _ as much enthusiasm and urgency of a sloth _

Smoker growled, trying to resist the urge to hit Law with his jitte

Not only does he need Law’s help right now, _ and owes him too _ , urgh, but _ also Rosinante would be upset if he hit his baby boy _

_ That prick was lucky that he liked Rosinante!! _

Smoker was never so thankful that Law left in another direction to go do_ god know’s what _

_ He needed the fucker out of his sight!! _

“Through that hallway, Strawhat!” barked Smoker, pointing through a hallway as Luffy barrelled through it, Smoker running behind him

  
  


_ “Are you ready?” _ asked Smoker, annoyed

“No! I’m not! Geez, could you wait a little bit?” pleaded Luffy, bent over, hand on his knees, panting hard as he tried to catch his breath “How are you not out of breath?! You ran harder than me and you’re always smoking!!” 

Smoker rolled his eyes, annoyed at the kid’s whining

_ To think that Law actually think this child’s panting was attractive was beyond him _

“You ready _ now? _” 

“I said not yet! Huff huff, I’ll tell you when!” 

Smoker rolled his eyes again and blinked, spotting something ahead of him

_ Oh sweet, a button! _

Ace always teased him about his inability to stop himself pressing buttons

Elevators, doorbells, that stupid Easy button at Business Depot, if he can press it, _ he wants to _

“Ahh, that’s better” sighed Luffy, smiling slightly

_ Good _, Smoker was getting tired of waiting as he pressed the button, making the door move with a loud creaking noise as it slowly raised to the top of the door frame

“HEY! I didn’t say ‘when’ yet!!” whined Luffy, making Smoker roll his eyes yet again

_ Why does Ace baby this kid again? _ Right now Smoker just wanted to _ kick him _

“Liste, Vergo’s mine” instructed Smoker, lighting a cigar that he plopped in his mouth

“I know! Huff huff, and I get Caesar! So don’t touch him!” snapped back Luffy, clearly the other seemed to be getting annoyed with him now

His bravado was pathetic at most right now

_ Urgh _

_ Ace would never act so lame _

Just as the door finished rising, they both spotted Caesar, who was at the door. But before he could say anything, Luffy sucker punched him hard into his stomach, sending him back. 

_ Well, that’s one way of doing it _

Afterwards he jumped on Caesar, landing another blow directly in his face

“YOU’RE NOT GETTING AWAY THIS TIME, CAESAR!”

_ Well fuck _

Smoker quickly looked around the room in question and frowned sharply when he saw no sign of Vergo

He took the shortest route here at the maximum speed! 

_ Where are you Vergo?! _

Smoker quickly turned around, having no time to waste. Law said that they had two hours at most and he didn’t plan on beating the shit out of Vergo quickly - _ so the longer he had to do it, the better _

He had every intention of breaking Vergo’s spine vertebrae by vertebrae

_ Wait _

How many bones are there in the human body again?

Two hundred and six, right?

One ‘o three it is, then

_ But first he had to find the asshole _

  
  


Smoker kept running down the hallways, trying to find out where the fuck Vergo was hiding and quickly noticed that he was coming across less and less guards - _ which was odd _

Either they had beaten most of them up or..._ they were evacuating? _

No, _ that was unlikely _. Caesar was still here, he wouldn’t leave without them

_ Well _ , more like Caesar _ would _ leave without them, so if Caesar was still here, nobody had left yet

  
  


_ “D Structure reporting! _ ” cackled the loud PA announcement, catching Smoker’s attention _ “Emergency alert to all third lab structure! Be advised that Law Trafalgar has infiltrated the S.A.D. manufacturing room!” _

Smoker frowned sharply, that didn’t tell him anything but Vergo seemed to particularly have it out for Law. So if that’s where Law is, _ that’s probably where Vergo was going! _

He needed to hurry - _ Smoker didn’t want to miss the chance to show Vergo the real definition of police brutality to this sick son of a bitch _

  
  


Smoker had finally found the door that was marked S.A.D., figuring it was the place in question. Once he quietly walked in, _ sadly noting the lack of button _, he instantly heard a loud clanking noise, that sounded like metal breaking in

Smoker looked up, only to noticed the railing was completely bent and Law was crushed inside of it

_ Holy fuck, how hard was he hit?! _

Smoker jumped slightly as something fell on his head, quickly grabbing whatever it was and ripped it off. He looked at it, scowling

_ It was that stupid hat Law always wore! _

He quickly stuffed it into his pocket and walked up the winding staircase as quietly as possible, hearing Vergo saying something

Frankly, he didn’t give a shit what the other was saying, he was just happy to confirm that the asshole was there. But now he had to make sure he actually made it up before Vergo spotted him or even worst - _ before Law got killed _

He still had to rip that kid a new asshole for what he did to him and his men. Also Rosinante would be fucking useless if Law got killed and Smoker didn’t want to lose such a great officer. That dork was efficient as hell, _ even though he was a massive dweeb _ . But mostly because if Law died, it would upset Luffy, _ which in turn would upset Ace _

And maybe he’d never forgive himself if he could have prevented all of that and didn’t

_ Maybe _

_ Frankly he was still mostly pissed at the little prick! _

“I have a message from the Joker…’_ What a shame _’”

Smoker scowled, _ the fuck was that about? _

“I knew exactly how to get my Scalpel device back from Caesar. My only failure was not predicting your arrival..._ Vergo _”

“_ That’s Mr.Vergo _” correctly Vergo as he shocked the poor kid’s heart again, making Law scream out in pain

Vergo then paused, frowning

“I’m indisposed at the moment..._ Can’t it wait, Captain Smoker? _”

Fuck, _ he was caught _

Right when he got on the platform at level too!

“Either way, I will be silencing you” threatened Vergo

Smoker frowned, a small smirk curling at the corner of his lip

“The sooner the better. I can only stand to look at trash so long before I have to take it out”

_ It was game time _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next few chapters are going to be...interesting to say the least, I'm hoping to finish this whole fic off before the end of the year, meaning there's PROBABLY gonna be more frequent updates especially since I'm now working from home~ so I'm not losing 3 hours a day commuting anymore! 
> 
> Anyways, no set schedule yet, but FOR SURE will be a new chapter before the end of next week and even hopefully before that!


	17. -LAW- Time for the Magnum Opus (When the Solo Becomes a Duet)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the nice words you all had for me! I'm doing this fic for NaNoWriMo so I'll be posting the chapters as they're completed! Also I noticed that google docs screws my formatting and makes big ass margins??

Law strode in casually into the S.A.D. manufacturing room

He could hear the announcement blaring over the intercom, _but he didn’t care_

All along, all month long, this was his true, ultimate goal

Doflamingo’s power lay in his drug empire nowadays

_And Law had every intention of crippling it_

While working here, Law had found out a few key things

First thing; the major buyer and person demanding the drug SMILE was a man called Kaido, who was a massively powerful gang boss. He was easily one of the biggest threats in the world. The man who literally had armies and governments under his wing

Second thing; SMILE was a drug that was being distributed and pushed by Doflamingo. The maker of SMILE was Caesar himself

Third thing; to make SMILE, you needed a core component, that component was something that only Clown Caesar knew how to make, which was called S.A.D.

Law was now standing right in front of the very equipment that manufactured S.A.D.

Meaning that if he were to destroy it and kidnap Caesar, S.A.D. couldn’t be produced anymore

_Which means SMILE couldn’t be produced anymore_

Which means Doflamingo couldn’t provide SMILE to Kaido anymore

So not only would Law take down Doflamingo, _he would destroy his empire_

But by doing this, he would openly be declaring war against the man

This plan was years in the making, _and nothing was going to stop him from achieving it_

Law carefully raised his Nodachi, smirking to himself as he readied himself to slice apart the valves, destroying the content already inside

They had shipped off their last shipment, that much Law knew. Meaning that would be the very last shipment of this shit that Doflamingo would ever get!

Law smirked, _this was it_ –

He was finally going to take down Doflamingo

Law’s intention was never to kill him. Oh no, that would be too easy. Too kind, for Doflamingo

He was going to destroy everything Doflamingo worked towards. Destroy his empire, his business, his reputation, _everything_

Law screamed as he felt the sharp pain. A moment later, he was sent flying, tumbling hard on the metal floor as he banged himself against it, coming to an end once he hit the railing

_What?!_

Looking up, Law only saw Vergo making his way towards him

_Fuck_

_Fuck!_

Quickly getting up, Law lunged at Vergo, desperate to grab his Scalpel he knew was in his pocket, his fingertips just barely grazed it -

-Only to be kicked again, this time landing hard into the railing

Law knew the second he hit that he had cracked a few ribs

_This was fucking bad_

_Vergo wasn’t supposed to be here! The old man was supposed to take care of him!_

Vergo gave a quick shock to Law’s heart, making him scream as he convulsed slightly on the floor

_Move! MOVE! He had to MOVE!_

A moment later, Law was able to get up, shaking

A second later, Vergo was right in front of him, landing a powerful punch in his face, sending him backwards, nearly over the railing, but not enough to enable him to fall over

Shit, falling to his death would be a kinder death than whatever Vergo had planned for him

Law carefully slid his hand into his pocket, grabbing the tiny device he never thought he’d actually need to use

It was the core component of his Scalpel device. While doing maintenance, he had merely stuck it in his pocket

But right now, it would work great as a tazer

Vergo quickly erased the distance between them, right up to Law, ready to attack him again

Law quickly swung his arm around, pressing it down onto Vergo’s neck and pressed hard on the button, delivering a powerful shock

Vergo’s body jerked backwards, giving Law a moment of reprieve

_And then he didn’t move_

Holy shit, did he do it? _Did he actually kill Vergo this way?_

_No way, Law was not that lucky!_

“I have a message from the Joker…”

_FUCK! It didn’t work!_

“_What a shame’_”

Law rolled his eyes, of course Doflamingo would be disappointed in him – he was trying to take him down and not suck his dick like Doflamingo clearly wanted him to do

“I knew exactly how to get my Scalpel device back from Caesar. My only failure was not predicting your arrival…_Vergo_”

If Vergo was going to kill him, _he was going to insult him one last time_

_“That’s mr.Vergo!”_

Vergo instantly gave Law’s heart another violent shock, sending him toppling to the floor

_This was it_

Law knew that this is how he was going to go

He wasn’t strong enough to take down Vergo on his own. He was an idiot for thinking he even could

He was a dumb kid, everyone had told him and yet he still thought he could do it

Law never needed an adult more than right now

_I’m so sorry, Cora_

Oddly enough, there was some poetry in someone killing him by heart failure considering he was the leader of the Heart Gang

“I’m indisposed at the moment…can’t it wait, _Captain Smoker?”_

_HUH?!_

“Either way, I will be silencing you” threatened Vergo, clearly irritated

_Smoker was there?_

Law groaned softly, trying to fight his desire to pass out to know what was going to happen next – _no way he was going to miss this!_

“The sooner the better. I can only stand to look at trash so long before I have to take it out”

_Okay, that was fucking cool_

Man, _now he kinda gets why Ace was always gushing about him_

“What is this place anyways? Looks rather ominous” stated Smoker, his shoulders straight and tense, clearly ready to fight, betraying his casual tone

“It’s nothing you need to know about!” snapped back Vergo, clearly on edge

Law turned his head slightly to look at Smoker

He honestly had no idea what was going to happen now

“Look, Vergo. I don’t want the rank-and-file to learn the truth about you. They worship you like a father. If they knew you were a traitor-” admitted Smoker through gritted teeth

Law blinked, surprised at how compassionate that was – there was clear fury in Smoker’s eyes

Cora had told him that Smoker was rather fond of the G5 recruits, but would never admit it, _but it was so different to actually see it_

“It’s too late for that. I met them on the way here” stated Vergo, calmly

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM?!” howled Smoker as he swung his jitte down, ready to strike Vergo, but it was quickly intercepted by Vergo’s bamboo stick

_Which was actually a metal pipe,_ Law had learned first hand

“You’ll see”

_“VERGO!”_ screamed Smoker, completely enraged

“You seem awfully worked up about this, Smoker! Don’t tell me you’re actually concerned for those misfits?” questioned Vergo

_Of course that asshole would have no clue what that means_

Thinking of others was never Vergo’s strong suit

Well, unless it was Doflamingo

“I’m the County’s sheriff! I do as I please!” announced Vergo smugly

Vergo took a few steps back, clicking in a mechanism into his metal pipe

“Either way, now that you know my secret, _you’ll all be disappearing_”

Law watched as Smoker took a step back and suddenly there was a loud explosion confusing him

Next thing Law knew, Smoker was somehow behind Vergo, swinging his jitte, only to have Vergo narrowly miss it by leaning backwards

As Vergo leaned backwards, he wounded up into a kick only for it to be intercepted by Smoker. Vergo then tried to swing his pipe once more, only to have Smoker narrowly miss it

Smoker among all that threw down a few of his smoke bombs, quickly filling up the space in which they were fighting

The visibility was now a disaster – Law has to concentrate hard to try to keep track of both of them

The smoke screen caused Vergo to miss the fist that Smoker sent flying squarely into Vergo’s face, landing with loud crack

Vergo went flying back, harshly landing on the metal floor

_Haha, bitch!_

“I don’t care how long you’ve known them! I don’t care if you’re the County’s sheriff! They’re under my jurisdiction, at my police station! I’m responsible for their lives! _And you ain’t laying a finger on my officers!” _screamed Smoker, filled with pure blind rage

_Yeah, he was definitely joining the Smoker Fanclub once he got back to Goa_

Law then smirked softly to himself – _guess he got that adult he needed_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kinda on the short end because next chapter is going to be much longer! This chapter is it's set up - next time, it's time for the fight!


	18. -Smoker/Law- Let’s Get Ready to Ruuuumble!!! (Time to Hand Out The Severance Package!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter flips POVs a few time, but I hope you enjoy it! It was a bitch to choreograph!

_Vergo was quick_

Smoker couldn’t forget that as they exchanged blows, countering each hit, one after another

A punch countered by the bamboo, by an arm –

Finally, they countered each other directly with the bamboo staff and his jitte, putting both of them in a standstill

“My abilities surpasses your abilities by far” goaded Vergo as Smoker took a moment to take his breath “I think you’re smart enough to know that it’s useless to fight against me”

Smoker’s eyes narrowed, knowing that he’s being played, _but it still pissed him off regardless_

Pushing harder against the bamboo staff, Smoker tried his hardest to break through so that he can at least knock Vergo off-balance

“Are you trying to avenge those dumbasses’ death?” asked Vergo, genuine surprise in his voice

Anger boiled in his as Smoker’s eyes widen

_That son of a bitch-!_

“They’re not going to die that easily! They’re not that weak!” started Smoker, trying to keep his voice leveled – he didn’t want to give Vergo the satisfaction of knowing how angry he was right now “Even though they’re misfits, _they’re still cops!”_

Smoker broke the counter, swinging the jitte back onto his back and started to throw flyaway punches, seemingly erratically, as he threw more smoke bombs

Vergo casually dodged them all, not seeing too concerned

Enough to notice that Smoker had quickly moved behind him

Too late, Vergo looked over his head, just in time for Smoker to hit him hard enough with his jitte to send him flying across the room, sliding on the metal flooring to the same railing that Law had crashed into himself

Smoker huffed as he twirled his jitte in his hand a few times to regain a good grip on the hilt

Vergo slowly got back up, his face now all bloodied as he cracked his neck loudly

“I didn’t know you care about them this much” stated Vergo “_Smokey_”

Smoker stiffened up – seeing red and he put the jitte back onto his back

It was bad enough when fucking Luffy called him that – _he was not taking it from this sack of shit!_

Smoker pulled back and punched the floor hard, trying to make a really loud noise as he threw down more smoke bombs. Hoping the noise and the smoke hid that he was getting into a crouch position. Using the force of the start-off, Smoker quickly ran to Vergo, fist up

“VERGO!”

Vergo was able to catch his fist, holding Smoker back, making Smoker stumble slightly on his feet

“You’re too weak_. You can’t beat me_” stated Vergo, as if he was talking about the weather

The fact that Vergo kept pilling on insult over insult on him _was driving him nuts_

Vergo pulled Smoker’s arm, sending the other swinging downward. Smoker snapped his head up, knowing that if he was being thrown down, that means something else was coming down on him

And as predicted, he suddenly saw Vergo’s leg coming down on him. Thankfully Smoker was able to quickly move himself out of the way. Smoker quickly fell into a rolling break-fall to get out Vergo’s striking vicinity. Using the distance to fast make his way back to Vergo, once again trying to use his weight in motion to land a heavy punch onto him

Only, once again, to be countered by the other

_“You never learn”_ taunted Vergo “My fighting abilities and my experience is much greater than yours. _Learn when to quit”_

Vergo tried to punch down onto Smoker, but Smoker was able to dodge at the last second, making Vergo hit the wall instead

Smoker eyes bulged slightly when he spotted the wall. There was now a large gaping hole in it

Smoker sucked his teeth, realizing that Vergo was probably wearing a reinforced metal suit. He had to make sure that Vergo never got him in the head with that otherwise, Smoker wasn’t sure he could stay conscious

Pulling back, Smoker reached behind him and grabbed his jitte – ready to strike Vergo. He crouched down and this time launched himself upwards so that he could swing down the jitte onto Vergo’s head

“TOO SLOW!” snapped Vergo as he whipped his bamboo rod sideways, able to counter Smoker’s assault

Smoker’s thoughts were swimming

He was so angry

_So fucking mad_

They kept parrying their weapons, frustrating Smoker even more. Vergo in full offensive while Smoker concentrated on blocking every one of Vergo’s strikes, chipping off the paint on his bamboo rod, showing the black metal underneath

Breaking the standstill of parries between them, Smoker pulled back his arm to throw a punch at Vergo. Vergo shifted a bit out of the way, crouching down slightly, which caused Smoker to punch past Vergo’s shoulder.

Smoker’s eyes widen – _this was a colossal mistake and he was going to pay for that_

Vergo gripped Smoker’s arm and pulls him in to punch him directly in the face

Smoker felt himself so tumbling back, knocking against the guard rail, pretty sure he knocked a few tooth lose to go with his probably already broken nose

Upon impact, Smoker felt everything his head rattle, his body now a massive ache. He’s pretty sure a couple of ribs had broken upon impact _but like fuck he was going down here!_

“You keep fighting because you’re angry at me for betraying the police district?”

Smoker spat out the blood in his mouth and removed another cigar from his coat, plopped it into his mouth and lit it up

“I just want to settle this. I have to finish you off with my own hands!” declared Smoker as he gripped the railing, using it to stand back up “_Gangster Vergo!”_

It wasn’t ending here

_He was going home_

He was going to tell Ace all about it as Ace fixed him up. Gently cleaned up his wounds and teased him, calling him a baby when he winced. Knowing Ace, he’d leave gentle kisses on his bruises, saying that he was going to ‘kiss them all better’. He’d be sore all over, every muscle screaming in pain yet he’d still take Ace back to their bed. He had to show his appreciation, after all!

Thinking of Ace always grounded him. He needed to relax, to be calm – to think this through!

_So he wasn’t gonna be killed here!_

“You’re not good enough to stop me. Why can’t you see that?” asked Vergo once more

Pulling back quickly, Smoker, put his jitte back on his back and reached into his jacket. He threw down another handful of smoke grenades and lunged toward Vergo.

He managed to land a heavy punch on Vergo’s face, but Vergo had also returned the blow. Smoker felt his teeth rattle once more but did everything he could to not let it show, rather thankful that the knuckles on his gloves were reinforced with steel knowing that he was hurting Vergo just as much

They exchanged a few punches before Vergo went back and Smoker’s eyes widen when he saw the other’s leg go in the air, coming down at high speeds. But this time, he wasn’t fast enough to avoid it, and his kick connected right with the back of his head

If his head wasn’t pounding before – _it sure as hell was now_

Smoker was sure his soul had just gotten kicked out of him

Fast shaking himself out of the stupor, Smoker crouched down. Using the strength of his legs to launch him, to throw a punch upwards. His fist connected directly with Vergo’s chin, sending the other flying upward and tumbling back. Using the momentum, Smoker quickly went towards Vergo, throwing more punches

_That somehow Vergo was able to dodge every one of them!_

Smoker snarled – his anger was making his moves too erratic, _he had to calm down!_

_But how could he with his pulse pounding in his ears?!_ His blood was boiling at how this garbage dumpster of a piece of shit was able to not only trick everyone around him, but kidnap children and experiment on them? Treat these lost boys like a father and then attack them viciously?! Tarnish everything that’s Smoker’s been working on for years for what – _Doflamingo?!_

Smoker wasn’t a fool

He was well aware of the corruption and the utter disgusting state of the police institution in the country right now – no, in the world. Smoker left the military for the same reason – but he thought that maybe, just maybe he could do some good as a cop. Clean things up; get rid of the rot from within_! And he had!_ But only in his little circle and he wasn’t naïve to think otherwise – but to think that his fucking superior, _direct superior at that_, was the rottenest thing in his county disgusted him!!

_Blow landed!_

Smoker kept landing punch after punch on Vergo, who merely attempted to dodge it – but his expression remained stoic

_Fuck this!_

Smoker pulled back, gathering his strength and his footing as he lunged forward once more, landing another powerful punch directly into Vergo’s face

It was a shame that his pulse was pounding so hard in his ears that Smoker was unable to hear the probably sweet sound of Vergo’s face breaking in

_But Vergo didn’t budge_

_He didn’t even fall back?!_

Smoker stared in horror, unable to understand

_What was this man made of?!_

“Are you satisfied now, _Smokey?”_ asked Vergo casually

What was happening?! Why didn’t th-

_The pain was horrific_

While Smoker stared in shock, trying to understand, Vergo had landed a strong blow right on his sternum, knocking the wind out of him and the cigar, out of his mouth

One hit quickly turned into many as Smoker felt himself get punched multiple times in his stomach before Vergo kicked him away, sending him flying once more into the guardrail

“No matter how deeply you feel about justice, _you can’t do anything if you’re weak!”_

_Fuck him, once I get up-_

_“What do you want?”_

Law breathed hard, blood still pooling from his lip as he stood up behind Vergo

“If…If I can get my heart device back, I can kick your ass easily, Vergo!” declared loudly Law, hoping that Smoker heard

But with his head tipped backwards, Law wasn’t even sure if the other was conscious

_But fuck, please please please be conscious!_

He couldn’t do this alone! Law needed Smoker’s help

“Don’t make me repeat myself, squirt!” growled Vergo as he pulled out the Scalpel device from his coat pocket and pressed down on the button “_It’s Mr. Vergo to you_!”

Law gripped his chest as the shock ransacked through his body once more, screaming as he fell over

_PLEASE! Smoker! GET UP!_

As Law convulsed in pain on the ground, Smoker frowned

A plan was quickly forming in his head from what Law said

Law probably knew where Vergo’s weak spot was – but he was right, with his heart being shocked constantly, he couldn’t do much

_But that blade of his could _

But did he really want to sink down low enough to work with the punk?!

But then Tashigi’s earlier words rung in his head

He needed to do what needed to be done so that his men could go home, for Tashigi to go home, the kids be safe and back to their parents and that he could fulfill his promise to Ace

Ace would be so fucking pissed if he found out that Smoker died because he didn’t want to work with Law

The idiot would take out a Ouija board to summon his ass to beat him up

_Fuck_

“You’re going to die here, too, Law” stated Vergo

Vergo paused, slowly turning around, staring surprised that Smoker was standing

“S-Smoker” muttered Law, staring surprised as well, but Smoker didn’t miss the momentary smile on his face

“Do you still want to fight, _Smokey?”_ asked Vergo “You know you’re no match for me”

Smoker breathed in and out

There was blood on his face, he was exhausted, everything hurts, pretty sure a bunch of shit was broken

_But his heart was still beating, and he was standing!_

Letting out a battle cry, Smoker threw down every remaining smoke bomb he had, causing a massive cloud of smoke to fill up the space

“What are you doing?!” asked Vergo confused as Smoker started throwing erratic punches in all directions

“You shouldn’t spread yourself so thin!” chided Vergo, clearly in shock at the irresponsible fighting style

Smoker let out another loud cry as he flew towards Vergo, swinging his jitte from above, making wide movements as he did so, allowing his coat to billow

Smoker kept making himself as wide as possible as they exchanged blows. This was allowing Vergo to strike him multiple times as Smoker winced at every hit.

_“This is just making it easier for me to hit you!” _

Smoker punched Vergo right in the chest, but barely having any real impact, slipping his hand inside the coat

Vergo landed another strong blow, sending Smoker falling back. Smoker managed to roll and land on all fours like a cat landing as he slid back. He stood back up, using his bulk to push the smoke forward with him as he went back to Vergo

“Why do you insist on making yourself larger than usual while using your smoke bombs?! It’s unlike you to fight this way, _Smokey_”

Smoker moved in close to Vergo, throwing his hand under Vergo’s arm, looking like he missed a punch

“ENOUGH PLAYING AROUND!” declared Vergo as he took out his bamboo staff “Against an opponent with superior abilities?! Making yourself bigger is only expanding your volume, which makes you a bigger target!”

Smoker pulled back and let out another loud cry, his voice bellowing across the room before running at full speed towards Vergo, still shooting

Vergo frowned, twirling his staff and moving out of Smoker’s lunge and striking him with the metal rod right on his neck

Smoker's jitte hit the ground hard and broke in half

_The last present his father had ever given him was now destroyed_

Smoker could feel the blood pooling down his face as he hit the ground hard behind Vergo

“I know you want to kill me for making a mockery of the badge, but you have to be strong enough to do so, Smoker” lectured Vergo over Smoker’s body “You can only have so much respect for bravery without strength behind it.”

Smoker closed his eyes, trying to catch his breath and stay conscious as every part of him just wanted to pass out

“It’s over”

Law took a step forward, causing Vergo to turn around

“Smoker…The deal’s done.Thanks for getting me back my heart!”

_Unbelievable_

Smoker had taken all of those hits, caused that much of a ruckus to be able to get his Scapel device back to him!

When Smoker had looked like he had missed punching Vergo earlier, he had tossed the device to Law. Law had no idea when he even got his hands on it! And then he had made all of that noise so that Vergo wouldn’t hear the device sliding on the ground!

Law’s heart was going crazy in his chest – _at the utter awe of Smoker’s performance_

_Smoker had been so cool!_

_Not that he’d ever tell him though_

Vergo let out an angry gasp, furious at the sight in front of him

Law quickly deactivated the device, severing the connection to it and his heart, rendering it a useless hunk of metal. He quickly snapped it in half and threw it over the railing

“NOW IT MAKES SENSE, YOU BASTARD” spat out Vergo as he turned to look at Smoker, who had a self-satisfied smirk on his face “That’s why you spread yourself so wide! When did you-?!”

_“Now we’re even_” stated Smoker, looking directly at Law “Now finish him off already!”

Law nodded slightly, he owed Smoker that much

“Are you really that unhappy about owing a gang leader a favour?” teased Law, as he allowed his body to fall into his ‘room’ state

Quickly everything slowed down, allowing Law to see every thing

_Perfect_

“It’s a stain on my police honour” replied Smoker, closing his eyes as he lifted himself a bit to throw something else “I’m not worthy to face my own men!”

Law smirked when he saw the flurry of white coming towards him

“But…That was just the help I needed! And the reason I’m still alive” stated Law as he caught his hat, putting it on “But now it’s over, _mister Vergo_”

“Well, at least you remembered where stand in all of this, you miserable runt!” yelled Vergo, clearly furious “You forget that I’m better than you!”

“Go on thinking that and see where it gets you” said Law “But don’t assume you people will be seated on the throne forever.”

Law swallowed the lump in his throat – _this was it_

“_I know you can hear me, Joker_”

This was it, his declaration of war

“Vergo is a dead man, Joker” started Law “You’re about to lose your right hand man. And Strawhat Luffy is going to take care of Caesar, which means you’re also going to lose S.A.D. “

Law smirked, the fury Vergo was radiating was intense but for the first time in years – _he wasn’t scared anymore_

“And you failed to foresee this nightmare scenario due to your own overconfidence. Think about your next move while you cackle away as always! But the longer you keep cackling, and that smile of yours continues, the less likely you’ll act according to plan”

_“Heeeheee”_

Law frowned, stiffening when Doflamingo’s familiar laugh crackled through the empty space

_“Well, sounds like our kid’s got himself an attitude! It’s always sad when they hit that rebellious stage, isn’t it? If I had to guess, I’d say you’ve got yourself a very mad Vergo on your hands!”_

Law looked at Vergo and the other was shaking with rage, pulling an injection device from his coat

_What the fuck was that!?_

_“Do you remember what happened years ago when you crossed Vergo then? You were traumatized, weren’t you? You have a deep-seated fear of Vergo that will never disappear! Even your ever-growing abilities cannot compare to his! You are no match for Vergo in any way!” _

Law watched as whatever Vergo ingected himself with gave his skin an odd blackish tint. His muscles bulged as he tapped his metal rod against the floor

_Must be some sort of enhancement drug_

Law smirked, his akumanomi allowing him to spot the one weak spot

Vergo lunged at him at high speeds and Law serenely put himself in tail guard stance – he was ready

He threw the powder in the air and blew in Vergo’s direction

And he swung

Vergo collapsed to the ground, blood gushing from his waist where Law able to slice him open

It was honestly a disgusting sight, things that weren’t supposed to fall out were and with the Shambles still on his Nodachi blade, it was now directly in his blood stream

_“You’re cut in half right now”_ stated Law, the command was set

Walking up to the crumpled body of Vergo, Law smirked, speaking loudly to make sure that Doflamingo would hear him

“It’s been two years since the Paramount siege. And who exactly has been moving things? You’ve done nothing more than maintain your so-called peace and tranquility. Whitebeard left his mark on our times. The World Government headquarters has bolstered itself with new strength! None of the other big players have acted either, as if they’re preparing. That whole event was nothing more than a prologue” explained Law “Like you’ve always said – a new age is coming. A new age with unmatched talent. An age of the daring and the ones who dare! Well, I’m about to destroy the gears and no one can turn back! I’m coming to take you down, Doflamingo”

Law heard the loud click of Doflamingo hanging up in rage and grinned, proud of himself

Crouching down besides Vergo, Law did a small cut on Vergo’s neck

_“I cut your head off”_

He cut both of Vergo’s wrists

_“I cut off your hands”_

And quickly tied Vergo up against the railing

“Oh damn” mumbled Vergo as Law started to walk away towards Smoker “How am I supposed to eat breakfast now? You picked a vicious way to get revenge!”

Law rolled his eyes as he walked up to Smoker who had sat up at this point

“This…This is going too far, Law” groaned Vergo “You’ve pulled off quite the upset but you will regret it! You know nothing of Joker’s past! And that will be your downfall!”

Law sighed loudly, annoyed – _little did Vergo know that he did! Cora had told him everything_

But Vergo didn’t need to know that

Law held out his hand to help Smoker up, but the other brushed him off with a wave of his hand as he stuck new cigars in his mouth and lit them up

“The world’s not going to go easy on someone naïve like you, Law! You think too highly of yourself, but you’re nothing but a fresh face with some hype! _Tell him, Smoker!”_

The look of pure annoyance on Smoker’s face was all the encouragement Law needed to walk back up to Vergo

“Tell him the world is too deep for a kid who talks bi-“

Annnd time to sever his jaw muscles so the fucker can’t talk anymore -_but for real this time, no Shambles needed_

With one last cut, Law was finally able to silence Vergo - _forever_

“Don’t worry about me. You should worry about yourself” started Law as he turned to join Smoker leaving the room “This room is about to blow sky high and you’re in no condition to escape”

Law noticed that Smoker didn’t budge from his spot a feet ahead of Law, clearly not wanting to leave without making sure the other was following

“Goodbye, Vergo”

_One nightmare down_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annd there you have it! Next chapter if all goes well is going up on Saturday!


	19. -LAW- I’ll Narrate My Life If I Damn Want To, So Shut Up, Usopp!  (Time to Shove Those Skeletons Back In the Closet)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! If I can follow my schedule, there should be an update pretty every three days!

_“Is this thing really necessary?”_ grumbled Smoker as he pulled on the chains, dragging along the massive cart behind them

Law understood that Smoker was probably utterly exhausted at this point and a part of him _kiiiiinda_ felt guilty making a man that was mid-thirty do so much physical labour for him after the beating he got but hey, if he was going to work hard to get all those muscles of his, _might as well use them, right?_

“It’s the cart they use to haul the S.A.D. We can fit the entire group on it! This escape attempt won’t have a moment to spare!” explained Law, hoping that Smoker would just agree and drop it

They were really close to their two hour mark and it was getting dangerous to stick around any longer. Thankfully the route leading to the port was a railway track; therefore, they could just ride it down

“Law. Concerning Vergo. You didn’t do that, I did that. Understood?”

Law frowned, confused as to what Smoker meant

“What?”

“So when it’s time to write the report, I did that to him. I tied him up and I cut him up. You were unconscious and I used your blade” restated Smoker, looking straight ahead

Law blinked surprised and nodded, understanding what the other was telling him

He was going to take the blame legally – _that way he wouldn’t have a record_

_For now_

Law and Smoker pushed the massive doors open, only to be greeted by Luffy and his group

Law couldn’t help the smile growing on his face out of pure relief to see everyone was still standing

“Luffy!”

“Torao! Smokey! There you are!” greeted Luffy happily

“AHHH SMOKEY! We’re so glad you’re alright!!” cried the G5 officers as they swarmed Smoker “We got a lotta stuff to tell ya! All kinds of stuff!”

Law frowned, looking around at the chaos around him

_What the fuck?!_

_Did a bomb go off in this room or something??_

But one important player was _MISSING!_

_“Where’s Caesar?!”_ asked Law, furious – _he had given Luffy one goddamn job!_

“Oh…You know the door that was there?” asked Luffy, pointing to it with a big smile on his face “I smashed him through it and they both flew off somewhere”

Usually Law would love that smile, but he was exhausted, sleep deprived, stressed, in a shitton of pain from all the beatings he received in less than 24 hours and _frankly he was just at his goddamn limit!!_

If Luffy wasn’t his boyfriend (?), _he would have punched him right in the face right now!!_

“What the-?! The agreement was to kidnap him!!” yelled Law, trying to contain his anger but he knew his hands were shaking

“But I don’t even want to capture that jerk anymore!” announced Luffy

_Oh goodie, the guy who didn’t even know the plans was now making decisions!_

“That’s not the point, Luffy!” yelled Law _“The plan was to kidnap him!!”_

Law quickly turned around, trying to calm down before he said anything more

“Who cares about him anyways?!” asked Luffy, his hands on his hips, looking put off

_DOFLAMINGO CARES ABOUT HIM_

Holy fuck! _He did not risk everything for this!_

“You can’t just change the plan on a whim! I should have never trusted you with this! We have to go after him!!” declared Law

They needed to find Caesar and now!

A loud, annoyed sigh shook Law out of his thoughts as he turned around to look at an extremely annoyed Smoker

“Alright, _stop your bickering!”_ howled Smoker, from on top of the cart “We got everyone on while you two lovebirds were yapping away!”

“Captain…” cautioned Tashigi softly, looking uncomfortable

“Have your fucking quarrel later!” replied Smoker as he smacked the edge of the cart, the metal in his gloves creating a loud clanking noise that made Law slightly jump

_“Fine!”_ snapped Law as he climbed into the cart and then promptly realized that Luffy had not followed

Neither had Robin, Sanji, Zoro and Nami

_Probably out of solidarity for their boss_

Holy shit he did not need this right now!!

“HEY! What are you doing?!” screamed Law, standing on the cart’s ledge “Everyone into the cart! If Caesar gets away because you knocked him off into the distance, the entire plan is ruined!!”

_“What’s your point?”_ asked Luffy, his back turned to Law, arms crossed – Law could hear the ice in his voice “Not all of my people are here”

_This was so not the time for a fight!_

If there was anything he absolutely detested, it was fighting with Luffy _because there was just no reasoning with him!_

No matter how many fucking times you explained something to him – _if Luffy didn’t agree with it, there was no budging_

_So Law knew that Luffy wasn’t getting on until his fucking friends did!_

Thankfully at that moment, the giant doors opened and in came crashing not only the missing Strawhats, but missing G5 officers who were carrying…injured kids

Fuck, _good thing they hadn’t left_

_Not that he would ever fucking admit it to Luffy right now!_

Smoker snorted loudly behind Law, clearly thinking the same thing – _stop making fun of me, old man!!_

“Luffy!!” greeted Usopp happily as they ran up to him

“They’re here! Now let’s go! We’re finally back together! Everyone get on board! This place is falling apart! Hurry up! Time to get outta here! ”

They quickly got the missing kids onto the cart as well as the G5 and everyone else onto the cart. Law turned around, staring right at Smoker, hoping he would catch the hint

Smoker threw his head back, groaning

“_ALRIGHT MEN!_ I need all able-bodied men to get off and help me push this fucking thing into motion!”

_Thank you~_

“Smoker! _Language!_ The children!” hissed Tashigi, stomping her foot

Smoker whipped around, and was about to reply but was quickly cut off by Tashigi

“_You should practice this all things considering”_

And Smoker promptly closed his mouth, grunting, looking like he was eating crow

_Huh?_

Why would Smoker be practicing behaving around kids for?

_Was he getting one?!_

Law frowned, this wasn’t the time to think about this

Soon enough, Smoker and the G5 were able to push the cart right onto the track and got it started and hopped back on quickly as it took off fast

_Here they go!_

Law raised a brow as he heard some commotion behind him

It seemed that samurai guy got hit by the gas and they had brought the weird encased man onto the cart

“Shit, apparently he’s the scaly kid’s father” muttered one of the G5 officers to the other

Law’s jaw dropped

The samurai had said he was looking for his son

Law took him for a nut – but the whole time, _his son was on the island?!_

_Shit shit shit_

_How did he fuck up a family like this?!_

A loud explosion shook Law right out of his thoughts as he looked back at the falling debris

_Shit?! How they run out of time?!_

“What was that?!” asked Tashigi, surprised “Something exploded?!”

Law frowned, his abilities kicking in, enabling him to narrow down the explosion’s location

“That was from the S.A.D. room”

More and more debris started to fall on them as they sped through the tunnel, forcing everyone to protect the kids as they knocked the chunks of rock away

“The corridor’s collapsing!” screamed one of the men, making Law sigh

_Way to incite panic, you idiots_

“This tunnel’s carved right through the mountain. If there’s a collapse, we’ll be buried alive” stated Law, figuring he should be honest. Lay the cards down for everyone since it wasn’t a secret anymore

“Now’s not the time for idle narration!” yelled Usopp, not impressed

Law frowned sharply

_Fuck you!_

Law bit his lip, seething

_All these fucking strawhats were getting on his last fucking nerve!_

“Hurry up, cart!” yelled one of the kids, pumping its fist into the air

“We’re gonna get sealed in!” yelled another

“Tell me Law, why did Caesar think he had my heart?”

Law blinked, surprised at Smoker’s question

“Is it really the time for that?” he asked honestly, but on the other hand - _it wasn’t like they could do much in the dang cart_

“Do you have elsewhere you need to be right now?” asked Smoker, showing his teeth with a low growl “I don’t like loose ends and I don’t want to get home and die of heart failure with my heart shocked to hell!”

“_He made that assumption on his own._ All I did was considerably return his assistant’s heart device to him” explained Law

Technically - _he wasn’t lying_

He told him that he had attached the device to Smoker’s heart - _which was true_

He never told Caesar though that the remote device he gave him was attached to Smoker’s heart device!

In the end - _Clown Caesar was a grade A fucking idiot_

“See? When you’re nice to others, _that good karma comes back around_”

“Boy, I’m going to shove you in the water the minute we reach shore” threatened Smoker as they flew out of the tunnel

“We’re free!!” screamed most of the occupants of the cart, thrilled

_Is that a Gundam?!_

_Holy fuck, there was a mini Gundamn on the shore!!_

There was a giant robot fighting on the shore!!

“About time! I was dying of boredom” said the Gundam through the speaker

“WHOO!! Check it out!” yelled Luffy, all excited

“IT’S THE GENERAL!” exclaimed both Chopper and Usopp happily

_Do they know this Gundam!?_

_Frankly now Law was pissed off that Luffy never told him that he knew someone who owned a fucking Gundam!!_

“A GIANT ROBOT!” exclaimed most of the cart, excited

But Law’s excitement was quickly dampened when he noticed who exactly the Gundam was fighting

“Buffalo!? And is that...Baby 5?!”

Holy shit, she was not a little girl anymore

_Urgh, that was weird_

She had clearly become a teenager, with curves and shit and why hadn’t Doflamingo gotten her a new dress?!

Buffalo…just looked like a giant version of his kid self, _this was so weird_

“Law!! Are you really turning against Joker?!” asked Baby 5, incredulous

He had been gone for 5 years _and they were honestly still asking that?!_

“Ya traitor!” yelled Buffalo, clearly furious “Don’t ya know Joker’s still holding the Heart seat open for ya?!”

_What?!_

_Holy fuck, it’s been five years!_

“Who’s that? They’re your friends?” asked Luffy casually, clearly excited to meet new people

Law frowned - _weren’t they in the middle of fight?!_

“No. They’re enemies” announced Law, wanting to make things 100% clear for everyone around them

Baby 5 and Buffolo quickly scanned the situation and dashed to the side to grab something bulky

Caesar?!

_That’s what that white thing on the ground was!_

_SHIT! _

Baby 5 and Buffalo started to run towards a nearby biplane. They jumped in and quickly started it up, hoping for a quick getaway

“They stole Caesar! _Shit!”_ exclaimed Law, panicking, _he didn’t have time to stop them!! _

Maybe if he threw his Nodachi?!

“They stole Caesar and ran! Leave it to me! Taking down a flying enemy is the sniper’s job!” announced Usopp as he got into position, ready to fire his…

_Sling-shot?!_

Oh fuck no!

“I gotta stop-” muttered Law, trying to come up with a plan, his sight narrowing on the only spot that would work if he threw his blade

“Whoa whoa! _Usopp said to leave it to him_” stated Luffy as he put his hand in front of Law to stop him as Law got into position…

...to throw his blade

Okay, _maybe that wasn’t the best idea_

“I-”

“Don’t think just cuz he has a long nose that our sniper can’t do his job” sternly warned Zoro, arms crossed

Law froze slightly when he felt Luffy put his hand on his shoulder, gripping it tight

“That’s not the point! _Our plan is ruined if they get away!”_ argued Law, not in the mood for this goddamn lovefest

“Are we in an alliance or not?” asked Nami, walking past Law holding_...a stick?_

“Alliance?” asked Zoro quietly, confused, raising a brow as he looked to Sanji, wanting an answer

“We’d appreciate a little trust! I’ve done enough running, I want in on the offense!” stated Nami, grinning as she stood beside Usopp

“I’m not afraid of an enemy at long distance with no will to fight!” exclaimed Nami, proudly

“Especially when they’re wounded and have their back to us! Leave it to us!” added Usopp

_“Just get to it”_ replied Zoro

_PLEASE_

Nami took her baton and spun it a few times before she did..._something_

Next thing Law knew, there was a giant thunderbolt out of nowhere, electrifying the hell out of the biplane, sending it flying down

_What the HELL?!_

Usopp then quickly released his ammo, which looked like lead balls that opened up into thousands of small lead balls, raining down on the trio in the sky, throwing them down to the water

_Holy shit!_

Usopp then quickly changed equipment and shot a proto-grappling gun, launching out a set of chains that quickly went flying towards Caesar, shackling him and plunging him right into the water

Okay, _maybe Law had to admit that he had no idea how the hell Strawhats even fought_ \- can’t say he expected one to manipulate electricity in the atmosphere and have hidden shrapnel balls?!

Caesar was officially captured

“Okay...Stage one is a success” begrudgingly stated Law, annoyed

“See? I told ya they were good!” bragged Luffy, proud of himself

Okay, maybe Law wasn’t as mad as he let on

_But he sure as hell wasn’t going to let Luffy know that!!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it! Back to Smoker next time!


	20. -SMOKER - Shit, It Is My Circus, Therefore They Are My Monkeys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoah! Another chapter! I know I know, this what happens when I'm actually able to sit down and work! We're nearing the end of the Punk Hazard arc and I'm very excited !

“Listen up, ya filthy thugs! The tanker is your territory!”

_They were so dumb_

“This is the boundary between justice and evil! _Don’t you care cross over the line!! _Is that clear, Strawhats!!”

_These fucking idiots actually drew a line in the snow_

“Who told you to waste your time with this? All I said was not to fraternize with them!” reminded Smoker, shaking his head

They were now stuck waiting. Thankfully right by the shore, where there wasn’t any gas and it seemed that they were safe in the meantime. They had found a big tanker right by the shore that was operational, so some of them could get off this island

But before that, everyone was taking a well deserved break

“If we’re gonna do this, we’re going in whole-hog, Smokey!!” cried out one of the G5 officers

He always hated that fucking expression 

_Maybe as cops, using pig expressions wasn’t the best idea, you numbskulls_

“I’ve made contact with the G-5 station since it’s the closest one. We’ll have to wait here for them to get us” explained Smoker, sighing afterwards, frustrated himself with the news

He really wished that it wasn’t a shortwave radio. Thankfully Smoker knew the frequency for the police station’s signal but he really wishes he could have called home. Smoker was starting to feel like a real asshole not having had any contact with Ace for a few weeks now. And frankly, _he just missed the other’s voice_

“AYE AYE!” cried the G-5 officers as they scattered

“You guys are gettin’ arrested, Brownbeard? That’s too bad! Just after we became friends!” 

Smoker raised a brow, no idea that Luffy had wandered over to their side

_Shows how great their ‘security’ is_

“Wo ho ho! It turns out that we were all given trace amounts of poison. He says the government will treat us if we came quietly, so…” explained Brownbeard

Smoker grunted slightly _\- he had promised that and he meant it._ Being arrested was one thing - _being experimented on was crossing the fucking line_

“HEY STRAWHAT! We just told you to not come over there!” yelled one of the officers, _FINALLY noticing him_

“So? That’s _your _stupid rule, not mine!” exclaimed Luffy, indignant

Smoker snorted, trying to contain his laughter. _These idiots actually thought they could tell Luffy D. Monkey what to fucking do_

_Yeesh_

A part of him though really wish he hadn’t had so much pride and would just walk over to Luffy and ask if he could borrow his phone to call Ace

But he could never live it down if his men saw him do it _\- maybe if he can manage to catch Luffy alone_

He sincerely doubted that too

“I’d rather rot in jail than be Caesar’s test subject. I have no more companions to keep me here either. Thanks for your help! It felt good to see you pound Caesar like that” stated Brownbeard, chuckling slightly

That’s one thing Smoker really wish he would have seen - but if he knew anything, Luffy is going to heroically tell the story to Ace anyways, he’ll just have to make sure that he’s close by when it happens

“MURDERER!!”

_What the fuck?!_

“HURRY LUFFY! YOU GOTTA STOP HIM!! HE-HE’S A-!! A MURDER! A MURDERER!”

Smoker lifted a brow as he saw that kid with the pink hat come down the hill freaking out

“What? Where?” asked Luffy, not really bothered

“LAW!”

Ah, it finally happened. _Law snapped_

Guess the taste of blood he got back there started an escalation

_Urgh, he wasn’t in the mood to arrest Law_

“Torao?” asked Luffy confused as he toddled after Chopper, looking like a stripped penguin in that big ass coat of his

Smoker watched him walk off to his side and then heard more screaming from the super-scrawny man called Brook, if Smoker had heard right, drawing his attention. Smoker frowned, squinting slightly to figure out what was going on. Suddenly, the cast broke and out of the cast came out a man in a kimono?!

Whoah - _what?_

_He was still alive in there?!_

The man in the kimono spoke to one of the kids and then hugged him tight. The kid in turn hugged him back

He couldn’t help but smile slightly at the sight - _that’s right_, the kid had said that the statue was his father. So at least one of the kids’ was able to reunite with their family already

_Less paperwork to deal with_

Speaking of, Tashigi had gone off to collect the children. They were going to bring them all to G-5’s hospital to be checked out. Law was supposed to make sure the kids would detox from the poison that apparently Caesar had been feeding them daily

Smoker scowled, _when he thought that the fucker had been drugging kids for months_

Smoker sniffed the air, feeling his stomach gurgle - whatever Black Leg was making _smelled amazing_

Apparently his officers thought so too. As they were sneaking off to the other ‘side’, following the scent of the food

_So much for staying on their side_

Smoker sighed again. He really hoped when he got home that Ace will make him his mother’s famous smoked chicken. Smoker had kept her recipe book after she had been murdered but he hadn’t really done anything with it, almost too afraid

Ace had found it and one day he came home and distinctly smelled his mother’s smoked chicken 

Smoker was beyond touched when Ace had presented the chicken to him with a huge grin on his face, showing him the recipe card which had a clear ‘Chase’s favourite! <3’ marked on it with his mother’s handwriting

He sighed loudly; Smoker hated it when he fell in a tunnel of just thinking of Ace over and over again. Right now his mind needed to be on his men, his mission and those brats - _not who’s waiting for him at home_

Also he was promptly trying to ignore the agony his body was in right now. _So maybe thinking of Ace wasn’t the worst idea_

“WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN JUSTICE AND EVIL?!” asked Sanji, clearly annoyed, yet still handing over the bowl of stew to the G5 officer

“Cease-fire!” the officer happily announced, making Smoker shake his head

“We need to leave this place at once, Luffy” warned Law, sneaking in close to Luffy

Smoker frowned, carefully watching their lips, making out what they were saying

“They will be on our heels soon if we stop to eat! Make sure your people know!” warned Law

“Oh yeah? Okay, I’ll tell them” agreed Luffy, only to turn around and face the crowd eating “IT’S PARTY TIME!”

Okay

The look of utter shock and despair on Law’s face_ was hilarious_

Smoker couldn’t believe that he’s been dating Luffy for two goddamn years and _actually thought that would work_

Teenagers were so fucking stupid

“Smokey!” called out one of the G5 officers, as they ran up to Smoker, distracting him from internally making fun of Law

“We’re going back to the island!” announced the other officer, running up to him

“What for?” asked Smoker, confused

“We managed to pry the gas’ weakness outta Caesar! We can go back and rescue the others!”

Smoker smiled genuinely - _that was the best news he heard all day!_

“Permission granted! Grab yourself something warm to eat real quick and get a group together!”

“Aye aye!”

“Here”

Smoker looked back in front of him, only to spot Sanji holding a bowl of stew

Smoker frowned slightly, ready to turn it down but Sanji shoved it forward

“Don’t bother. I know you’re more stubborn than those dolts and wouldn’t come ask for one. But I feed the hungry, plain and simple” explained Sanji

Smokers sighed, taking the bowl with a grunted thank you, the bowl of amazing smelling stew, from Sanji’s hands

He quickly took a sip of the stew, the warmth of it really hit the spot, Smoker was really glad the other had brought it over to him

Because Black Leg was right, _he wouldn’t have gone to get it himself_

Sanji remained in front of him though, confusing Smoker who lifted a brow, wanting to know why the other stayed there

_“I kissed the lips that kissed you!”_

Smoker forced himself to swallow, making sure not to waste any, but afterwards started to cough, trying not to choke

“_You bastard!_ How did you know we watched that-?!” asked Smoker, surprised to have a direct line from the movie he watched the night before with Ace thrown out at him like that

But then he looked up and saw that Sanji was holding up his phone

_Was he filming him?!_

“Ace told me” explained Sanji as he quickly typed away on his phone “He also told me to tell you that and record your reaction! And off it goes-”

_That bastard!_

“You tell him that he’s dead when I get home!” teased Smoker, making sure that Sanji didn’t think he was actually threatening Ace

“Hahah, will do Captain. If this message even sends, the reception is shit here. Now I gotta get back” started Sanji, pointing to the stove behind him 

“Yeah, you have lots of others to serve” 

Smoker smiled slightly to himself, glad to hear from Ace, even though it was so little

_Yeah, actually he might go borrow Strawhat’s phone later_

Suddenly someone sat down on the crate closest to the one he was sitting on, but Smoker noticed that it was on the other side of the ‘line’ that was drawn in the snow

_Law_

“Law. You don’t seriously believe I’d keep an oath to a gang boss, do you?” asked Smoker, taking another healthy sip of the stew

_Shit, it really was amazing _

“I have every intention of telling Rosinante everything. He’s your guardian; he’s been worried sick about you and has the right to know exactly what you’re up to and where you’re heading. Also...he’s my friend, and I don’t lie to my friends” admitted Smoker “But, also, if you had really wanted to silence me, you had plenty of opportunities. What are you using Luffy for? What are you starting?”

Smoker needed to know, not for his own sake - _but really for Ace’s_

Luffy made his own damn decisions, that much he knew, _but Ace had a right to know what stupid shit Luffy was getting into_

“Using? Whom is using whom?” asked Law, smirking as he sipped his own stew “The fact that I left you alone means absolutely nothing, White Chase...but if you died, it would have made some people sad” 

Smoker snorted, odd that Law came to the same conclusion as he did earlier when it came to Law

“Incidentally...I’m heading back to Goa; I have to go back to school after this. We’ll see if the Strawhat gang is compliant enough to play along with my plan”

Smoker raised a brow

_All this and Law was just heading back to Goa?_

But he didn’t want Rosinante to know what he was doing..._But he was going back to school?_

Smoker frowned, mulling it over - _was there something going on at the school?_

“I doubt it. Just stop worrying Rosinante. You’ll have him go old before his time”

Thankfully, _Law wasn’t his monkey to deal with _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun news, next update should be Saturday if I'm right and it's gonna be S P I C Y


	21. -LAW- Reunions and Rejoicing (And Groveling) (NC-17)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again HERE'S THE PORN
> 
> If you want to skip it, I put a * at the beginning and * at the end, so you can use ctrl+f to skip over it and get to the plot!
> 
> Also this is a big boy of a chapter, I hope you enjoy it! A lot of things happen!

“Hey...if you’ll allow me to break character for a bit, can I say something?” muttered Law, catching Smoker’s attention

“I don’t give a fuck if you break character. _You’re a kid_, you shouldn’t have to feel like you have to be stoic all the time” replied Smoker, sipping more of his stew

_Hey hey hey!_

“I’m 18” stressed Law, frowning _“I’m not a kid!”_

“Still a kid in my eyes”

“And how old was that fiancé of yours when you started screwing him!?”

“Ace was never trying to put on mature airs like you” Law could hear the warning tone in Smoker’s voice “He also doesn’t go out of his way to make his entire family worry. Now out with it, what did you want to say?”

_Well, here goes_

“You were...You were really cool during the fight with Vergo” admitted Law, looking down, embarrassed that he was gushing “I still can’t get over how much you put yourself in the way to give me a chance to recover and retaliate” 

“My father was a big man” started Smoker, taking another sip “Whenever he fought, he always put himself in the front, using his body as a shield for the others with him. I was a scrawny kid, but I always imitated him. So when I finally bulked up, I made sure to always use my large body to do the same. Besides, it was the best course of action to guarantee success. You needed your heart device back, you needed a breather but also you had a blade that could take Vergo down and pierce that fucking suit of his. I knew blunt force wouldn’t be enough for Vergo” 

“You could have just taken my nodachi and let me die” argued Law, surprised at well thought out Smoker’s plan had been

_Also the talk of his father??_

“Not going to lie, I did entertain the idea for a brief moment, but honestly_, too many people would be sad if you died”_ admitted Smoker, surprising Law

But he smirked, snorting slightly at his words from earlier being parroted back at him. His mood dropped

“Would I have deserved it?” asked Law, surprised at himself for asking such a vulnerable question –_ to Smoker, of all people_

But also, he knew Smoker had no reason to sugar coat his answer either

“If a guy climbs on top of an active volcano and jumps into the magma inside - they deserve to die. Someone going on a suicidal self-sacrificial mission in hopes of bettering the world isn’t someone who deserves to die, in my books. Is it stupid though? _Absolutely_”

_Okay, that was fair_

“You only have one shot at this though” warned Smoker “Doflamingo isn’t going to let you walk away from this” 

Law sighed deeply

“I know”

_“Just don’t fuck it up,kid” _

Law frowned, annoyed

“When won’t I be a kid to you?!” 

“Tashigi’s 23 and she’s still a kid to me, I see Rosinante as a giant dweeby kid too, so don’t hold your breath”

“Cora’s 31?!”

_“Exactly”_

They both ate their stew in silence for a moment before Smoker spoke up again

“Also apologize to Luffy for dumping him via text. That was shitty” chided Smoker

_Huh?!_

“Uh, Luffy seems kinda over it” pointed out Law, confused

“If you don’t apologise, it’s only going to make it worse when Sabo and Ace get their hands on you. And if they hear that you didn’t even bother apologising for hurting Luffy, it’s going to be a blood bath when they’re done with you” warned Smoker “And let me tell you from experience, getting your ass kicked by Sabo is brutal. I can only imagine both of them coming at you”

_What!?_

“When did Sabo beat you up?!” asked Law, incredulous

“While Ace was in his coma. Once we knew that Ace was going to be more or less okay aside from not knowing if he was going to come out of his coma or not. Sabo reminded me that he had made it real clear that he was going to kick my ass for dumping Ace and hurting him. I agreed that he had threatened exactly that and let him beat me up. Frankly, I felt like I deserved it” explained Smoker, as he sighed loudly “I couldn’t get out of bed for a week after and I know he went easy on me too”

_A week!?_

And Law had just saw _firsthand the kind of thrashing Smoker can take and get right back up from_

Law blinked, surprised - _he had no idea this had happened!_

“Does Ace know about it?”

Smoker nodded, taking another sip of his stew

“Those three don’t keep any secrets from each other. They don’t tell each other everything, but if asked, they’re honest and fess up” explained Smoker “Which means that if they ask Luffy if you apologised,_ you better damn hope he says you did_”

“Fuck, the wrath of Sabo and Ace wasn’t something I considered” admitted Law, gulping loudly “I think I’ll just let myself get killed by Doflamingo”

“Or, soften the blow and just go goddamn apologize” suggested Smoker, rolling his eyes “Sabo’s a big softy when it comes to Luffy, you can appease him by convincing Luffy to tell Sabo not to hurt you”

_This man was a genius_

“How are you so good at this?”

“_How are you so bad at this?_ Rosinante is the master of interpersonal relationships and figuring out people’s motives, emotions, and everything. And your stupid ass is fumbling through it - is it because your ‘cool brooding’ crap you’re trying really hard to do? It makes you blind or something?” countered Smoker

Law was about to fly into a rage until he noticed the upturned corner of Smoker’s lip

_That fucker was teasing him!_

“Oye! Says the grumpy old man!” 

“I’m not trying to pretend I’m a grumpy old man - _I am a grumpy old man_” pointed out Smoker, knowing very well he had the upper hand

“Hmph! I bet your pastimes is watching old war documentaries, grumbling about the ‘good old days’ and that kind of crap!” 

_Okay, that was pretty lame -_ but Law honestly had no idea what old men even did

“Naw, I like doing pottery” 

“Excuse me?! I would have never guessed that of you” Law blinked, surprised – surprised that Smoker had even admitted this

_Were they becoming friends or something??_

“Most people don’t”

“Like...ceramics and stuff?”

“Yeah, who do you think made Rosinante’s new ashtray” 

"You mean that really cool yellow, orange and black swirly one?!”

Smoker grunted in confirmation, taking another sip

“He saw the one on my desk and wanted one like it, so I made it for him” explained Smoker

Law could now see the tinge of red on his cheeks - embarrassed not by the pottery _but the compliment on his work_

“Do you do it with Ace?”

“Sometimes, he doesn’t really have the patience for it though. So he usually just hangs out in the room when I do it” explained Smoker

“Do you two have moments like in Ghost when-”

“_I have literally no intention of ever discussing any factor or my sex life with you whatsoever, Trafalgar._ Now stop being a fucking coward and go grovel to Luffy” warned Smoker, growling slightly, gesturing with his free hand towards were Luffy was messing around with his friends

_Message received_

Law chugged down the rest of his stew and stood up

_It was now or never_

“Hey Luffy, can we go talk somewhere alone?” asked Law

Luffy looked up where he was laying on the ground, munching the meat around a bone while a few kids bounced on his stomach 

“Sure!”

“We can go back inside the tanker where I treated the kids earlier. I cleaned it, so it’s not full of blood or anything” explained Law, suddenly feeling really nervous

As they walked, Law behind Luffy, towards the tanker, Law turned slightly to look back at Smoker

Who was...doing something with his hands while staring right at him

_Wait – isn’t that ASL?_

DID HE JUST SIGN TO HIM TO BEG?!

_Asshole!!_

They quickly entered the tanker’s private room and Law closed the door behind them 

Okay, okay, _he can do this_

“What did you want to talk about, Torao?” asked Luffy, tipping his head slightly 

“Uh, well, I kinda want to uh” started Law, feeling all the courage draining from him as he rubbed the back of his head

He took off his hat, holding it between his hands

Put his hat back on

_No. He had this_

“I wanted to apologize” 

“For what?” asked Luffy, tipping his head again

“For the shitty text I sent you?” 

“Oh, that?” said Luffy, grinning “Don’t worry about it! I know an S.O.S. when I see one!” 

Law blinked, surprised

“What...Do you mean?!”

“Torao, we went from cuddling in the atrium to you apparently dumping me in like, 10 minutes” pointed out Luffy “Like yeah, at first I was mad, but because I was really confused, but then I knew that something was clearly wrong especially when I couldn’t find you anywhere” 

Law’s heart sank, _he had no idea Luffy went looking for him that day!_

“Why did you go looking for me?”

“Because I wanted an explanation for the text!” admitted Luffy, frowning “I was really worried! And then I found mister Rosisi looking like he was about to cry also looking for you, so I knew something was wrong!”

Law felt like he had just gotten punched in the heart at the mention of Cora

“Because I really needed to know what happened! So I went looking for you every chance I got! I went to see Mister Rosisi every single day to ask if he heard anything about you!” 

Well

_Now he felt like total scum_

“But I was right! It was important! That Vergo guy, he’s the one who said to come with you to his office back at school, wasn’t he?! Robin and Franky said they recognized the Vice-Principal right away but stayed quiet because they weren’t sure if they were recognized back by him!” 

_Oh right!_ Law kept forgetting that Robin and Franky taught at their high school! _It was odd to think that their teachers ran with a gang like that_

“Huh, Monday morning back at school is going to be weird for them” pointed out Law, scratching his cheek

“Huh? What do you mean? There’s no school on Monday, it’s a holiday” 

"What?” asked Law, shocked

“Yeah, it’s one of those important day things” explained Luffy, clearly not caring “Also Franky and Robin don’t work there anymore. All the old teachers got fired except for Miss Viola” 

“WHAT?!”

_When did this happen?!_

“Yeah, it happened maybe a few days after you disappeared? The new teachers are all real freaks though!” pointed out Luffy, laughing 

“...Will...they be _okay?”_ asked Law, feeling awful

_Imagine losing your job to someone like fucking Pica_

“Oh yeah! Franky makes a killing with his construction stuff and his prosthetics and Robin is often asked to do research and a consultant for things!” explained Luffy “But, I don’t think you wanted to talk about Robin and Franky when you brought me here”

Law frowned slightly, confused

“No, you’re right. I brought you here to apologize. It was super shitty of me and you’re right, that guy Vergo, he uh. He did a real number on me when I was really sick and dying and Cora was trying to save me. Cora had gotten really hurt getting me the akumanomi that saved my life, to me and I went to find help. I found a guy wearing a marine uniform, thinking he could help. Instead it was Vergo and he beat the shit out of Cora, almost killing him and then beat me half to death too”

Law blinked; surprised that he was retelling this story and wasn’t shaking

_Guess leaving Vergo to his death did the trick to get him over Vergo_

“Torao…”

“Also at school, he locked me into his office and he started beating me really bad. He told me that he was going to kill me and yeah, I just panicked and ran. And I couldn’t go to Cora because that would be telling Vergo exactly where Cora was. Vergo is insanely loyal to Doflamingo! He would have killed Cora on sight, so I needed to get far away to plan my revenge. And…a part of me was terrified that you would get hurt too” admitted Law, his throat feeling raw

_He hated admitting to Luffy that he was scared of his safety_

"I can fight, Torao! You know that!” exclaimed Luffy, huffing, Law could see that he was insulted

“Luffy, I know you can! _But this guy was seriously bad news!_ It took Smoker’s massive help for me to take him down!” admitted Law “Without him, I wouldn’t have been able to do it! But Smoker had to use himself as a human shield! I’m honestly scared that Ace is going to come after me double after he sees all the injuries on Smoker!”

“Why double?” innocently asked Luffy

“Because Smoker told me that they’re going to beat my ass for hurting you!” admitted Law

_“I’ll tell them not to!”_ replied Luffy, huffing his chest and putting his fists on his hips “I hate when they do that! I can beat someone up myself!”

_SHIT, now they’ll think that he sent Luffy to defend him like a weenie!_

“Urgh, actually, I might deserve it” _Yep, he was absolutely letting Doflamingo kill him_

“Naw, Torao. What you did what smart. Nami says that I’m too stupid to know when to back off from a fight when I know I’m not gonna win, but I know when I’m not doing good” explained Luffy, clumsily “I think if a big dude like Vergo locked me into his office and started beating me, I’d be kinda freaked out too. And I don’t know the guy! I’m just really glad you’re okay”

Luffy reached forward, grabbing Law’s hands

“And you can’t break up with me without me saying it too! _So we didn’t break up!”_

Law blinked, surprised at Luffy’s words and then laughed softly, his heart feeling lighter for the first time in weeks

“Alright, alright”

“And we’re now officially in an alliance. So no matter what, I’ll stand by your side, as long as you stand by mine” continued Luffy

“Yeah, I agree” replied Law, smiling softly at Luffy

“Hahaha, this kinda sounds like vows, doesn’t it?” teased Luffy, grinning brightly 

Law’s face went completely red at Luffy’s words, realizing what he just agreed to 

“W-Waitaminute! Luffy listen! Our chances at survival is super slim, maybe 30% at most as we go after Doflamingo! This isn’t the time to be making promises like that!” cautioned Law _\- the last thing he wanted to do was hurt Luffy again_

“Hee hee, it’s okay, Torao! It’s not really vows, I’ve just been real busy planning wedding stuff Ace” admitted Luffy

“Wedd- Luffy! You might die in the next week or so, _you understand that right?” _

_He needed Luffy to understand exactly what he was sacrificing here!_

“If Ace found out that I didn’t fight alongside of you because I might get killed, he’d be really mad! He’d yell that he never took me for a coward and he’d never respect me again! If I swear to be by your side on this, I mean it! If I die, at least I don’t die a coward!”

Law opened his mouth to argue, but then he sighed, smiling softly at Luffy

“There’s no convincing you otherwise, is there?”

“Nope! You’re stuck with me Torao!”

Law tugged on Luffy’s hands and pulled him into a tight hug - having missed his touch so deeply – his body was currently a massive bruise, but he didn’t care. He had needed this more than he cared to admit

“So...is the reason you brought me into this private room and closed the door was really just to say sorry?” asked Luffy

Law frowned, pulling slightly back to look at Luffy

“...What did you think would happen?”

“Wellll…” started Luffy, trying to whistle innocently as he looked to the side “We are celebrating our victory right now and I diiiid miss you a lot”

_Holy_

_Shit_

“Luffy...did you think I took you in here to have sex?!” asked Law, surprised

Luffy merely kept whistling innocently, trying not to look horribly guilty

“Kiiinda”

“You know, any other time, I’d yell you and tell you that this is not the time or the place, but you know what? I’ve had a shitty fucking month and I’ve been resisting the urge to kiss you since I saw you burst through the air on that wreckage so fuck it! _Let’s do it!”_ exclaimed Law as he quickly unzipped his coat

“YEEESS!” yelled Luffy, shaking his own coat off

“My bag is right over there too! I have lube in there and supplies!” announced Law as he tried to turn to grab his bag, but instead a half-naked Luffy instead threw himself at Law, kissing him passionately as he threw his arms around Law’s neck, knocking them both to the floor

_Down here it is!_

Luffy was being really forceful

_Guess Law wasn’t the only pent up one_

Rough kisses, Luffy almost devouring him as he bit and nibbled on Law’s lips, making Law groan in pleasure. Luffy had knocked over his hat over and was running his fingers through Law’s hair, pulling it slightly

Law wasn’t sure is his head was spinning from lack of oxygen from the kisses, from being dizzy with pleasure or the probable concussion he might have from the blow Vergo had given him on his head

But fuck him right now, _the bastard was fucking dead and he was going to get laid!_

_*_

Luffy was currently sitting on top of Law so he sat up and scooted down slightly, down Law’s body, purposely pressing down on Law’s crotch as he did so

Law groaned, throwing his head back as he swallowed the moan

He was about to snipe at Luffy for purposely teasing him like that, but when he saw that Luffy had not only unbuttoned his jeans, but had already pulled down his pants, he swallowed down the complaint. Law was now staring at his own fully erect dick and Luffy’s face right besides it, grinning

“Didn’t want to wait” admitted Luffy as he took hold of Law’s hard-on and immediately put his mouth on it, taking Law whole in one swift movement

_Holy shit shit shit too much!!_

“Luffy!” barked Law; his face completely flushed _“You’re going to make me come!”_

Luffy quirked an eyebrow at Law confused as he hollowed out his cheeks and started to bob slightly on Law’s dick

Law groaned, feeling Luffy’s tongue circle around the head

_Fuck he loved it when Luffy did that_

Law gasped slightly as he felt the electricity running through his body as he was feeling the telltale sign that he was nearing his orgasm

“L-Luffy, I’m not kidding! I’m really pent up! I’m gonna come!” warned Law _“We don’t have time for a second round!” _

Law wanted to fucking kill Luffy when he goddamn felt him huff on the head on his dick, _holy shit_, and plopped Law out of his mouth

There was a string of saliva going from the head of his hard cock to Luffy’s mouth and honestly, if Law got hit by a comet right now and died, _he would have lived a good life just with this moment alone_

_"You don’t play fair, Strawhat!”_ growled Law, trying to catch his breath, putting his hands on his eyes, trying to block the hot scene in front of him

Law could hear Luffy rifling through the bag besides them, making a happy noise when he found what he wanted. He felt Luffy kneel on either side of his hips. Law knew the sound of the cap popping open, the sound of the lube being squeezed into Luffy’s hands. The sound of Luffy rubbing the lube slightly with his fingers, trying to warm it up

The small gasps and grunts Luffy did when he inserted the first finger in himself

The sound of him pumping it in and out

The moan Luffy makes when the additional fingers went in, _one after another_

“Look at me, Torao!” ordered Luffy as Law felt Luffy roll the condom on him, every touch on his dick feeling like too much

Law sighed, removing his hands, a little sad, considering how much he was enjoying just listening to Luffy

_Maybe they should try blindfolds one day?_

Law stared at the scene in front of him, his jaw dropped

Luffy was hovering over his hard dick, his own cock fully hard

Law wordlessly put a hand on Luffy’s hip and grasped his own cock, guiding it towards Luffy’s entrance as the other slowly descended down on him

Oddly enough, they had never done it like this

Now Law really wondered why - _the view was magnificent_

Luffy’s entire body was flush as he sank down on Law’s cock, slowly sinking in, inch by inch, his lips pressed tight, concentrating on taking it all in, trying not to moan

“I-I got it all in!” declared Luffy, victoriously once he sunk down to the base, bottoming out, pumping a fight in the air 

Law stared at him, incredulous for a moment before he burst out laughing 

_This was so Luffy_

“You’re ridiculous! I missed you so much” admitted Law before he turned bright red, realizing what he just said

“I missed you too!” replied Luffy as he lifted himself up slightly and slammed down, making a moan rip out of Law’s throat

Law knew he wasn’t going to last long as he rolled his hips up, meeting up to every time Luffy rocked down

Luffy leaned down to capture Law’s lips into a kiss, which lead to many as they were lost in their own little world

_Law was so fucking stupid to have even tried to end this_

To make himself a world without Luffy by his side, dragging him into whatever crazy adventure 

Law knew now that no matter what, _he’d follow Luffy_

“L-Luffy, I’m gonna-” warned Law, arching his back, knowing he was just on the cusp

“M-Me too-!” replied Luffy, breaking the kiss to sit up and rode Law harder, trying to get as much as he could before the end

*

“OYE! Luffy, forgive the bastard already! Everyone is out here waiting for you and I -”

_Of course it was at this fucking moment that Law came_

Just as the door slammed open and an annoyed Smoker was at the door, staring at both of them, stunned

“I told you to go grovel, you little shit! _Not fuck him!”_ yelled Smoker, his face entirely a new shade of red

“G-GET OUT!” yelled Law,_ humiliated_

_He couldn’t even cover his junk because Luffy was on top of them!_

“Oh hey Smokey! We’re kinda busy, can you give us a minute?” asked Luffy innocently

_Y’know, as if he wasn’t sitting on top of Law, completely naked, apparently having come on his own stomach, on top of an equally naked Law_

“I’m really glad you’re okay, Smokey! Ace would have been really upset otherwise!” added Luffy

“DO NOT MENTION ACE WHEN YOU’RE NAKED ON TOP OF SOMEONE ELSE” howled Smoker as he pulled back and slammed the door shut _“YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES!”_

Luffy kneeled up, pulling Law out of himself as he stood up 

“Hee hee, I can’t believe Smokey just walked in like that!” 

_“How are you not mortified?!”_ asked Law, shocked, his hands covering his face

Luffy shrugged as he picked up his clothes 

“Not like I haven’t walked in on Smokey and Ace doing it” 

_Whoah what!?_

“When was this?! _You never told me this!”_ replied Law as he got up, removing the condom, trying it up and throwing it in the trash. He then grabbed some wipes from his bag and started to wipe Luffy down before he got dressed

“Umm, it happened a few time. Ace says I have a habit of not knocking” admitted Luffy as he put his underwear back on

“You mean...You just burst into their house?” asked Law, wanting some clarifications

Granted, he knew that Luffy did this, _since he would just walk into his house too_

“Yeah! I didn’t know they were home! I like to play with Justice and Kotatsu, so I go see them! And a few times, I jumped the fence since they were in the backyard and when I looked inside the house, I’d see them doing stuff” explained Luffy as he put his shirt on

Law didn’t know how to explain to Luffy that the reason that the pets were outside was _probably because they were having sex_

“Smokey’s got one of those flat muscly butts” announced Luffy, laughing

“Luffy, I don’t want to know about Smoker’s butt” stated Law, now imagining it

_Urgh, this was weird, he never really thought about Smoker having sex_

Ace oozed sex, so he was given, but Smoker? _Naw, this was weird_

Luffy then leaned up to the tip of his toes and kissed Law softly on the lips, shaking him out of this thoughts

Law whined softly as he kissed him back 

“I’m sorry again for scaring you like that” admitted Law, knowing that he didn’t need to say it, but really felt like saying it again

“It’s okay, just don’t do it again, okay?”

The two quickly got cleaned up and suddenly there was a loud knock on the door

“Can I come in?” asked Smoker

“It’s safe, Smokey!” said Luffy happily as Smoker opened the door, looking embarrassed 

“You, _get out_” started Smoker, pointing to Law and then gesturing behind him with his thumb “I need to speak to the pipsqueak alone” 

“No” stated Law, crossing his arms “Whatever you say to him, you can say in front of me” 

Smoker looked at Law, not impressed

“I’m not going to derail your stupid ass plan. I need a favour from Luffy” stated Smoker

“Huh, from me? What do you need?” asked Luffy, surprised as he closed up his coat

“Your phone. Can I borrow it to call Ace?” 

Law blinked, surprised

“You could have just asked for mine earlier?” pointed out Law, lifting a brow

“My officers can’t see me borrowing a phone from two gang bosses. Much less a burner phone, because I know for a fact that you don’t have your cellphone on you. Ace doesn’t answer the phone if he doesn’t know the number! And mine got destroyed”

Law started, shocked

_“How-”_

“Here’s my phone, Smokey!” said Luffy in a cute voice as he handed his phone over to Smoker

“Rosinante’s been carrying your cell since you went missing like a security blanket” explained Smoker as he hit the speed dial and called Ace

_And now Law felt more like shit_

“-This isn’t Luffy”

Okay, he never thought he’d ever live long enough to see the Captain smiling brightly at the phone

“Why do I have Luffy’s phone? Because your stupid little brother is right beside me”

_“Hey!”_ cried out Luffy, insulted 

“Yeah, I can’t talk long. I should be coming home soon. We’re just waiting for a pick up. Our RVs got trashed pretty bad” 

Yep, Law didn’t miss the glare that Smoker threw his way

_Haha oops_

Smoker then laughed warmly by whatever Ace was saying excitably

It was like watching a brand new creature 

_Who the fuck was this Smoker?_

For a man who Law’s known for two years, he feels like this last day or so, he’s learned so much about him than he has in the past years

“Also, I found Law, so you can punch him in the dick” stated Smoker, shooting a look at Law

_You fucker!_

_Forget every nice thing I thought of you!_

“Yeah, the lab’s dead. I can’t wait to come home and sleep for a week. Alright, I don’t want to use up Luffy’s battery so I’m going to let you go”

“Yeah, I love you too. I can’t wait to get home. See you soon” Smoker then finished the call and handed the phone back to Luffy “Thank you”

“Hee hee, anytime Smokey! Alright! Now we gotta go back out there and pretend we’re not friends!”

Law blinked, surprised - he wasn’t aware that Luffy purposely put distance between himself and Smoker

_It must be weird for the two of them_

Honestly he had no idea how Ace and Smoker even dated while the other was in the Whitebeards

“Should of taken a picture of you smiling, Captain” teased Law behind Smoker as they walked out of the tanker’s room

_“I will throw you in the fucking water, Trafalgar”_ muttered Smoker

Pffft okay, _Smokey_

  
  


They walked out of the tanker as Tashigi walked past them, bringing all the kids into the tanker, making Law frown

_Huh?_

“I thought you would be using the tanker?” asked Smoker, Law relieved that someone had asked for him

“Nah, see, Nami and Chopper are saying we can’t leave until we make sure the kids get off this island. But we’ll make ourselves scarce after that, because we don’t want to deal with the cops coming to get you” explained Luffy

Law frowned slightly, turning to Smoker

“How are they going to travel afterwards? Once they cross the lake?”

“The tanker’s amphibious. I checked it out earlier, so they’ll be able to drive it once they reach shore and Tashigi knows the direction to the nearest town” explained Smoker

“…That reminds me, I gotta do something before we go”

_“FORGIVE ME!! I WISH I COULD DIE!” _

Law snickered slightly as he listened in to the conversation from the burner phone, he had left on besides the tied up bodied of Baby 5 and Buffalo. He had left them on a small skid that he left floating in the water. Now he was in Luffy’s van, riding back to Goa, and it seemed that what he was waiting for finally arrived as he heard Doflamingo’s voice

_“All you did was follow my orders”_

Law smirked, it was time

“Well, here’s a surprise. The boss himself, in the flesh”

_“Is that you, Law?”_ asked Doflamingo, surprised _“For the amount of time it’s been, you seem awfully resistant to a proper reunion”_

“If you’re looking for Caesar, he’s with me” replied Law, giving the tied up man a swift kick

“JOKER!! SAVE ME!”

_“Where’s the antidote for Baby 5 and Buffalo? You clearly drugged them with something. They seem to think that they’re missing their bodies”_

“Antidote? I couldn’t say…” Law had maybe also taken the time to use Shambles on them _– maybe_ “And no more pointless questions. Let’s make a deal”

_“Hee heee hee hee cool your jets, Law! You’re just a kid playing a grown-up business! Where are you now? You don’t want to make me angry, Law” _

“Make you angry? Shouldn’t you be more worried about making Kaido angry? What’s going to happen to you when he finds out that you can’t produce any more SMILE? He’s not someone you can reason with, from that I’ve heard. I can only imagine how ugly that meeting’s gonna be. He’ll wipe you off the map”

_“All right, Law! This ain’t funny! What’ll it take to get Caesar back?! Name your price_!”

“Quit the Warlord program. Abandon the status you’ve built and go back to being a simple ganster or drug mule or whatever. But once that happens, the World Government won’t turn a blind eye to you any longer. You have exactly 24 hours to make this happen. If the front page of the World Government website doesn’t scream ‘Doflamingo leaves Warlord Program’, then you’ll hear from me. I’ll text you a number to call me at on the phone I left you there. If not, the deal’s off and I’m handing Caesar off to the authorities. So long-“and Law snapped his phone shut, hanging up

_Man, burners are fun because you could still do that_

“Who were you just talking to, Torao?” asked Luffy, pressing himself against Law

“Doflamingo”

_“DOFLAMINGO?!”_ screeched Usopp from the other side of the van “From the Warlord program!? Isn’t he like, the most dangerous guy to mess with?!”

“He was. He won’t be when we’re done”

_The plan was already in motion_   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aren't we all excited? Next chapter will be LAST ONE OF PUNK HAZARD! Afterwards we'll be back in Goa! 
> 
> Also to note, pottery making is legit Smoker's hobby according to Oda so I HAD to add it
> 
> Scene from Ghost in case you're not aware of it lol : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj195VJWJIE
> 
> Also - How to sign Beg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwIBl9SD4H4


	22. -SMOKER – Today on Sesame Street, Big Bird is Apparently Gonna MURDER PEOPLE (Fashion Reject Coming At ‘Ya)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have nothing clever to say here - enjoy!

Things were finally quiet

After the weird goodbye between the kids and the Strawhats and his officers acting _like total fucking jackasses_, everyone had left aside from his men that had stayed behind with him to help with the evacuation. Smoker admits that a part of him was discouraged at how enamored his men now were of Luffy and his Strawhats gang but that was an issue to deal with another day

For now, he needed to see how many of his men he could save and how many casualties he could recover

As much as possible, he wanted the family to get something. _Nobody enjoyed an empty casket_

Thankfully they had been rather lucky. Many of his men that he thought that had gotten killed were simply badly injured. It might be the end of their career as cops, but they still had a life to continue

The workers of the lab had graciously lent their protective suits to his men to be able to survive the gas and rescue the others

“Thank you for allowing us to go rescue our people” started Brownbeard, holding a helmet in his hands. They were now at the entrance of the tunnel their took to escape “I’ll never forget your name! I can save my people’s lives and I promise! I swear! That I’ll come back to turn myself in!”

Smoker lifted a brow, taking his cigar out of his mouth and tapped the end “This is the only exit. It’s not like you can leave without me seeing you” pointed out Smoker “Just go!”

Everyone had left for a couple of hours now and they were quickly losing daylight. If they could wrap this up before the rescue transport came, that would be great. They had asked if they wanted to send a helicopter to pick a few of them up first – but Smoker had refused. At the point that they got the offer, nobody was that badly injured and Smoker knew that moral-wise, they were all leaning on each other, so he’d hate to break them up

Honestly, Smoker knew that he was in the worse shape out all of them standing. His chest was now littered in ugly bruises and injuries that he couldn’t hide due to the fact that he wasn’t wearing a shirt at the moment. He knew that he could just close his coat, _but that felt too cowardly_

Smoker was scribbling down the name of the latest people they had been able to rescue on his makeshift list when he heard many of his men screaming

Whipping his head up, Smoker’s jaw dropped as he watched a group of his men up ahead drop to the ground, blood flying through the air with a cloud of gas surrounding them

_What the fuck?!_

_“Where. Did. They. GO, you bastards?!”_ asked an ice cold voice, a threat looming behind every word

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!!” replied one of the cops “You’re a warlord!! Why are you attacking us?!”

_A warlord?!_

Smoker started to make his way towards the noise and stopped and stared at who he saw coming up the snowy hill

_Doflamingo!!_

Standing there, at his massive height, wearing a big, billowing pink feather coat, a white open shirt and loud, pink zebra print cropped pants and black heeled shoes

Walking through the snow as if he felt nothing, his usual sunglasses hiding his eyes, but Smoker could smell it in the air

_He was mad_

It looked like he was grabbing at the air and pulling, making the men one by one, fall as blood flew everywhere

_He was cutting them!_

_“Where did they go?!”_ asked Doflamingo again, slamming his foot down on a wounded cop’s chest “Answer my question! _Which direction did those shitheads go?!”_

Smoker froze, looking around quickly – trying to spot the strings – _shit shit shit!_

Doflamingo paused before he jammed his foot into the man’s chest even hard, making him scream out in pain

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!!” screamed the man, desperate

_“Then go to hell!” _

“HOW DARE YOU ATTACK OUR BOYS!!” screamed his remaining officers, taking out their guns

“NO STOP!” yelled Smoker, remembering what Rosinante had told him about Doflamingo’s fighting style

Who knows how long he had been wandering around the island in the commotion?!_ How many strings he had strung up!_ The wind was howling so loudly as well –_ Smoker wasn’t even sure how he got on the fucking island!_

Smoker ran forward, using the snow to slide down the hill quickly. Using the inertia, he jumped forward, throwing a punch at Doflamingo, making him jump away from his wounded man. But the pain his body was in made Smoker stumble slightly, winding up behind Doflamingo

“Stop messing with my men!” yelled Smoker

Doflamingo slowly turned around to face Smoker – he had his typical smile on his face_, but Smoker could tell that he was pissed_

_“Smoker!!”_ growled Doflamingo as he pulled at the air one more and more of his men went down “Tell me where the shitheads went!”

_Doflamingo was calling him by name?!_

“Law I can understand” started Doflamingo as he took down one of his men after another, moving so fast and so nimbly too that Smoker was having trouble following his movements “But Strawhat is just a regular old thug – _AND YOU LET THEM GO?_ WHERE ARE THEY?!”

_Shit! He was after the kids!_

Doflamingo took off running towards them, pulling at the air again, taking more and more of his men down. Smoker grit his teeth, not willing to move. If he couldn’t see the strings, _he knew that he was no good to anyone dead_

“WHICH DIRECTION DID THOSE DAMN KIDS GO?!” asked Doflamingo once more, clearly furious

“I wouldn’t know,_ Joker_” replied Smoker, standing his ground

Doflamingo stiffened at the name, clearly catching what Smoker was implying

“I carelessly let them slip away” stated Smoker, exhaling the smoke from his cigar “I’ll have a lot to answer for to Sheriff Vergo after this is over. Bet he’ll give me a real earful too”

Doflamingo scowled at him for a moment, before his smile returned, but Smoker didn’t miss the throbbing vein on his forehead

_SHIT_

“You _know_ he’s gone!” stated Doflamingo “I’m getting the feeling that you know too much!”

Smoker frowned, Doflamingo flexed his hand and suddenly Smoker saw the snow in front of him split. Smoker jumped out of the way to avoid the string. Thankfully string usually was in a straight line, so Smoker figured that if he threw it, he couldn’t go sideways

Doflamingo kept throwing his string at him, Smoker moving side to side, to avoid it. If he could get Doflamingo away from his men,_ then maybe they had a better chance of walking out of here!_

Smoker tried again to punch Doflamingo – but the other merely dodged the punch by bending over backwards, stunning Smoker

_How the FUCK does a man that size be so flexible?!_

But once past Doflamingo, Smoker merely tried to punch him again, and yet Doflamingo was able to move out of the way

Smoker growled, _he’s had it with this shit!_

Raising his fist, _Smoker decided he was going to play dirty and punch him right in the dick_

Yet somehow, Doflamingo jumped up, doing a perfect set of splits in the air, narrowly avoiding Smoker’s punch. But as he missed, Smoker punched right into the glacier embankment, his fist momentarily stuck

Cackling, Doflamingo leap-frogged over Smoker, and in the air, threw his strings all over

Smoker let out of a hiss as he felt the razor sharp string cut him on his cheek, the stinging unmistakable. And afterwards, he got hit in the chest, the blood generously pooling

_Shit!_

Unable to know where the strings were, Doflamingo started to pummel Smoker with them, cutting him repeatedly and Smoker was simply too injured from earlier to move as fast as he would have liked – _like he needed to, to survive!_

_This was so fucking bad_

“It’s no good! Something is cutting up, Smokey!!” cried out one of the cops, freaking out

“You’re no match for me. Especially in your current condition” teased Doflamingo, cackling

Doflamingo looked to the side, noticing the group of Smoker’s men trying to come to his rescue and Doflamingo’s smile got wider as he lifted his hand, stopping when it touched something in the air

NO!

“Stop defending and just accept your death!”

_FUCK YOU!_

“SMOKEY! We’re coming!”

“Oh? You guys want to die first?” asked Doflamingo sweetly as his fist started to close on what Smoker could assume was more strings

_Smoker’s not even sure when he started moving_

He just heard himself yelling ‘Stay away!!’ and next thing he knew, he was right in front of his men, pushing them away. And then feeling the strings surround him, pulling tightly as his skin split everywhere, the stinging of the pain nearly unbearable

Once the strings let go, Smoker collapsed to the ground, in too much pain to even attempt to stand up

He could hear his men screaming his name, but the pain was just too much

“Stop!! _Smokey’s gonna die!!”_

“Don’t worry~” replied Doflamingo sing-songly

Smoker suddenly felt an extremely heavy weight on his chest and looked down his body to see Doflamingo sitting on top of him – grinning at him

_Fuck the asshole clown was fucking heavy!!_

Smirking, Doflamingo dug his heel into Smoker’s chest – _right into one of the bruises left by Vergo_

“I’ll be killing all of you! There’s no telling who might have learned what, and since I can’t read minds – same goes for Law, Strawhat and you shitty fucking cops_! I’ll pick you all off, one by one!” _

Smoker froze, frowning sharply

_He wasn’t going to give this fucker the satisfaction of seeing him scared_

Because even if he gets killed now – _he sure as fuck believes the kids will be able to take him down later on. So Chuckles can keep laughing for now_ – but soon enough he’s the one who’s going to be going down

_I’ll laugh in your face when we met in hell!_

Doflamingo clutched his massive hand over Smoker’s mouth, cutting off his capacity to breathe. Smoker’s lungs were burning but when he saw Doflamingo raise his other hand – he knew this was it

Doflamingo was going to release more strings and kill him

“Whoah whoah” Smoker frowned as he saw a gloved hand grab Doflamingo’s raised wrist “Excuse me, young man. Would you mind getting off him? _He’s my friend_”

Doflamingo froze, taking his other hand off Smoker’s mouth. Smoker spat out blood, wanting to clear his airway as he coughed, trying to get air in his lungs

_What’s going on?!_

There was a tense moment where Doflamingo didn’t move and all Smoker could hear was the cracking sound of…ice?

Suddenly Smoker saw both of Doflamingo’s hands coming right for his throat, but before he could get a grip, Doflamingo let out of a cry. Right after he jumped off of Smoker, crouching like a wounded animal, frowning sharply, his hand holding shoulder as he faced – _Kuzan!?_

Aokiji still had his gloved hand up, showing that he had activated his dry ice device. _That was it! He must have burned Doflamingo with it_!

Smoker took deep breaths, now that Doflamingo was off his chest, allowing his to expand his lungs

Doflamingo slowly straightened up and started to walk towards Aokiji

Smoker tried to pay attention, but had trouble seeing over his own chest, but from his angle it looked like Doflamingo was just…walking past Aokiji?!

“I’m not in the mood to fight you, hee hee” stated Doflamingo as he walked towards the shore, where Smoker thinks he could see two people waiting there “But if I can’t silence him, guess I’ll have to change tactics”

Once it seemed that Doflamingo was gone, Aokiji kneeled besides Smoker, looking at him over

Aokiji looked like a bum – but Smoker had to admit. _It was a good look on him_

“Uh, excuse me?” Aokiji asked, addressing him men “You might want to hurry up and help him?!”

“OH SHIT!”

Smoker groaned – _god they were all stupid_

It had taken quite a while to give Smoker the medical attention that he needed. They had kept him laying on the ground, but now he had a makeshift pillow under his head, elevating his head slightly. He was covered in gauze and bandages, hoping it’s enough until the helicopter they had called arrived

“I was a dead man, just now” admitted Smoker

Aokiji chuckled softly as he lit the cigar in Smoker’s mouth

_Sweet sweet nicotine_

“Heh heh, hum, then I guess it’s was fate that brought me here”

“Why _are you here?_” asked Smoker – _why the fuck was Kuzan on Punk Hazard, of all places_

“To see you”

_He wasn’t expecting that answer_

“How did you even know I’d be here?” asked Smoker, confused. But then he frowned “You wouldn’t have tapped into the police frequencies, would you?”

“SIR!!” yelled the police men around them “He’s a former admiral-“

“If you’re done bandaging him up, why don’t you go on the shoreline, ready to wave down the medical transport and GIVE US SOME SPACE!” yelled Aokiji, making the men scramble away

Smoker snorted – _chicken shits_

“I’m just…me, Smoker” muttered Aokiji

Smoker sighed slightly

“Fine then” the other clearly didn’t want to talk about that part of his life now

Maybe it was for the better – _the less Smoker knew, the better_

“Just…Make sure you don’t take your eyes off Doflamingo, Chase. He’s one of the Warlords and also he’s currently the principal of Grand Line High. Inform Sakazuki to have admirals on standby. Shit’s about to go down in Goa again, worse than what happened two years ago. I just wanted to give you that warning”

Smoker frowned sharply at the information

_Doflamingo was the principal?!_

_Something was going to happen to his city?!_

There was a slight moment of silence as Smoker exhaled

“Hey, I’m getting married”

_“Mistake”_ replied Aokiji, with a small smile on the corner of his lips

“Haha. Anyways, is there a point in sending you an invite or are ya still out on a lam?”

“Hmm, don’t think your groom would want me there” countered Aokiji, clearly avoiding the question

“_You just saved my life;_ I think he’d get over you being a bitch to him once”

_If, of course, the rumor of him working with Blackbeard was false_

“I’ll think about it, I guess. Just to watch from the back, no need to set up a plate for me” replied Aokiji

“And you gonna get the info of when and where how? By osmosis? You jackass”

“Aren’t you supposed to announce that kind of thing in the paper?” asked Aokiji, frowning

“Maybe back in 19-fucking-52? Who the fuck does that anymore?!”

“Hey! You men!” yelled Aokiji as he stood up, ignoring Smoker’s question “The fact that you saw me here is…uh…you know what, forget it. Who cares”

“WE’LL KEEP IT A SECRET!!” yelled the men back, clearly still terrified of Aokiji as the other disappeared from wherever he had come from

Moments later, Smoker could hear the blades of the medical chopper arriving

_Thank fucking god, _

_He was way over his head right now and frankly would just like to put said head on Ace’s lap and sleep until next fucking year_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND WE'RE OFF THE ISLAND!
> 
> So we'll be back to Goa in the next chapter and things will get rolling ish - bah, you'll see, the update will be posted THURSDAY! But one thing's for sure, I'm going off book from now on! LET'S PARTY BABY!


	23. -LAW- Turn On Your Location, You Fucking Coward (I Just Wanna Talk )

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cannot take credit for the chapter title! Completely snatched from Leaf from his cosplay picture on Instagram which can be found here: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx42Uh6nNxB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link !

_“So what’s the plan exactly?”_

Law frowned at Usopp, the weariness of everything having hit him like a brick. Between the high stress of living at the lab, the spying, the worrying, the getting his ass handed to him, the sex, _and utter humiliation of Smoker catching him having sex_ – he was fried. They were now in Luffy’s van as they drove back to Goa to regroup at the Thousand Sunny house. The issue is that it was nearly a five or so hour’s drive and Law was already sick of being in closed quarters with the whole Strawhat Gang…_and Caesar_

“The plan right now is to go back to Goa. I’ll explain everything once we get there” snapped Law, not wanting to get into it

He needed a breather first, a shower for sure and maybe a couple of hours of sleep would be nice

“Who were you just talking to, Torao?” asked Luffy, pressed against Law

_This…This he wasn’t mad about._ Luffy being right there was oddly grounding

“Doflamingo”

“DOFLAMINGO?!” screeched Usopp from the other end of the van “From the Warlord program?! Isn’t he like, the most dangerous guy to deal with?!”

_Where the fuck had this guy been??_

Of COURSE it was Doflamingo they were going after!!

“Yes. That Doflamingo. But everything’s already in motion and we can’t back out now. In case you missed it, I already threatened him!” explained Law “We were all seen at Punk Hazard, so we have a target on our backs now. The plans in motion, it’s too late now”

“I want to hear about this plan” stated Zoro, glaring at Law

Law coughed, clearly his throat – it went without saying that even though Luffy had forgiven Law _for everything, Zoro clearly hadn’t_

_And as Luffy’s best friend, this was bad_

“Yeah! Explain the plan!” asked Luffy, excited

“Actually, I want an explanation for everything” specified Zoro, narrowing his eyes _“You have a lot to explain”_

Law sighed, rubbing his brow, he knew this was coming

_“You will never get away with this!!”_ screeched Caesar from where he was tied up in the back of the van

Sanji grunted, landing a switch kick in his face, knocking him out

“Annoying fucker” mumbled Sanji, getting an approving nod from Zoro, who grinned at him

“Anyways. Yeah, you’re right. I do owe an explanation for what happened before. Where do I even fucking begin”

_Guess he was going to have to do it now _

So he started with the beginning. Explaining Vergo, why he reacted to Vergo so badly, why he broke up with Luffy, why he left Goa without a word and without a trace, why he worked in the lab, what his goal was and etc

“…Anyways, I asked Luffy to kidnap Caesar while I took care of the lab that made the chemical compound for the S.A.D. Doflamingo needs this chemical to produce the drug called SMILE. But it’s distribution is done by this big druglord called Kaido who runs the Animal Cartel”

_“What?!”_ yelled Kin’emon and Momonosuke from their seats

Law raised a brow – _why would they care about any of this?_

“What’s up?” asked Zoro, turning to look at Kin’emon

“Nothing! Please do continue!” replied Kin’emon

_Well that was weird_

“_Anyways._ So without S.A.D., you can’t make SMILE., so Doflamingo’s screwed without that fucker” finished Law, pointing to Caesar “Hence why he needs him back, bad”

“So, he was making that S.A.D. stuff? I heard of SMILE, nasty stuff. Gives you an Akumanomi temporarily, doesn’t it?” asked Sanji, frowning, gesturing towards Caesar

“Whoah, S.A.D. must be incredible stuff!” added Chopper, from besides Sanji

Caesar, now conscious was beaming at the compliments

_Gross_

“Don’t compliment him!!” yelled Usopp, gesturing to Caesar “He’s a fucking monster!”

Law sighed, rolling his eyes

“Don’t be impressed. It’s just the application of a bloodline element, which was first discovered by Vegapunk. Vegapunk came up with the recipe, this ass just used it for evil” specified Law

“Oh, _so Vegapunk is the genius_” bemoaned Chopper, looking completely unimpressed now

“SHUT UP!! I’d like to see you create a drug!!” hissed Caesar

“ANYWAYS, through this jackass, I found out that a SMILE production lab is actually somewhere on the grounds of our high school” interrupted Law, wanting to finish his point

“Sooo...We find it and destroy it?” offered Franky from the driver’s seat

_“Exactly”_ confirmed Law “But Doflamingo and his capos have completely infiltrated the school and now know of our appearances. Well, know for sure of Luffy and me. So we can’t be sloppy or we’ll get killed. _And they will kill us_, don’t think because we’re mostly high schoolers, that they won’t”

“Hee hee, sounds fun!” expressed Luffy, grinning “We’ll get to save our school too!”

“In theory yeah, but we can hash out the details back at the house. We have a lot to discuss to make it work. Also, I don’t want this asshole listening in” pointed out Law, as he gestured to Caesar

“That’s fair” replied Zoro, crossing his arms, clearly appeased, as Sanji closed his eyes and laid his head on Zoro’s shoulder - _but it didn’t mean that Law was forgiven_

_Urgh, this was the world feeling_

They finally made it back to the house late into the evening

Everyone was now flopping everywhere in the living room, exhausted to the bone as Sanji was making a ruckus in the kitchen

“I haven’t had a moment of peace since I heard you threatened Doflamingo!” stated Usopp, clearly nervous “How the fuck am I expected to sleep tonight?!”

_You and me both, and it’s been years_

“Another noisy night in this house” said Sanji, walking out into the living room “How many are we eating dinner?”

“What’s for dinner?” asked Luffy, his head in Law’s lap as they both had collapsed on the couch

“Pizza” replied Sanji

_Uuuurrggghhhh _

“And something else for the bread-hater over there”

_Thank you!_

“Pizza? Like Okonomiyaki or the American version?” asked Kin’emon “Regardless! Another fine meal concocted by that fine fellow!” 

Kin’emon and Momonosuke said they had come to Goa to find a friend of theirs and reunite with some family members. But Kin’emon had offered to help them with the siege of the high school, as a thank you

As well because apparently his younger brother was an alumnus of the school, therefore he felt responsible

Usually Law would have said no, but at when they came into the house, Kin’emon’s kimono had slipped slightly and _Law was sure he saw a Yakuza tattoo_

And he saw how well the other fought – _so why the hell not??_

“Has Momosuke already retired to bed?” asked Kin’emon, looking around

“No, he’s in the bath with Robin” answered Nami from the lazy-boy

_“HUH?!”_ cried out Brook, Sanji and Kin’emon, surprising Law

“Oh good timing” said Robin as she came into the living room carrying Momonosuke and wearing nothing but a towel “Kin’emon? Do you have some extra clothes for Momo?”

_“WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU PERVERTED LITTLE IMP?!” _

Law frowned, wondering why the hell they were yelling at a little kid – but then he noticed the kid nuzzling Robin’s chest

Wow…_He was REALLY in there_

_Ah_

Annd now Nami was beating up the trio for yelling at Kin’emon – wa_s this fucking house always this loud?_

Wait he knew this – _yes, yes it was_

“You wanna go to bed, Torao? You look tired” asked Luffy, Law merely shook his head

They had dinner and at this point most of them had retired to their rooms. Law had stayed on the couch, using his phone to refresh the World Government’s website over and over – _hoping for some sort of update_

“Naw…actually, it might not be a bad idea. I did give him 24 hours and knowing that fuckface, I’ll only get word around that time anyways” explained Law, frustrated

“Do you think he’ll do it?” asked Luffy

“He doesn’t have much of a choice” admitted Law, messing with his phone to give the other’s burner phone’s number a distinctive ringer so he wouldn’t miss it “I have his scientist. Without him, Kaido will probably have him killed. Or kill him, himself – and Kaido isn’t nice”

“Do you want to call mister Rosisisi? It’s pretty late, but I’m sure he’ll be happy you called”

Law paused, looking at his phone and shook his head again

“No. I’ll just worry him. Besides, I don’t want him knowing that I’m back in town. Honestly, I wish I knew how to make sure he was nowhere near Goa if Doflamingo is coming. Last time he was in town, he tried to kill Cora and he’s never going to stop trying either. I just want him to be safe”

“We’ll protect mister Rosisisi!” announced Luffy happily, throwing his fist in the air

“Yeah, we sure will” agreed Law “C’mon, let’s get a few hours of shut eye, shall we?”

“IT’S MORRR-NING, YO HO HO HO! AWW, YEAH!” Law grunted, sitting up in Luffy’s bed, being jolted awake by Brook yelling through the house, strumming his guitar “RISE AND SHINE FOR THE MORNING EDITION! CHECK THE FRONT PAGE OF THE WORLD GOVERNMENT WEBSITE! HEY, C’MON!”

“Fuck, he better be on there” mumbled Law as he took out his phone and quickly loaded up the page

“Doflamingo Donquixote leaves the Warlord Program”

_YES!_

They had all gathered in the living room as quickly as possible

_“I can’t believe he actually quit!”_ expressed a shocked Usopp

“That worked out so well…it’s kind of eerie” pointed out Nami, looking at the front page from her tablet

“He didn’t have much of a choice” pointed out Law, unable to stop grinning

“JOKER!! You did all this, just for me?!” yelled Caesar, somehow touched

_You’re just his drug cook, you doofus – of course he did_

“So…why are our faces on the website too?” asked Luffy

Everyone turned to look at him confused

“See?” said Luffy as he showed his phone screen to everyone “Just scroll down!”

Everyone quickly turned back to their phones and devices and scrolled down

_FUCK_

Law frowned sharply

Right there on the front page of the World Government website was a picture of him and Luffy, _announcing their apparent unprecedented alliance_

“That fucker!” growled Law – _this was bad!_ Law got up and walked to where Caesar was chained up to a support pole in the living room and grabbed his hair, pulling him up “But now you all see how much of a big deal this is? All we did was kidnap Caesar and he gave up his gang empire that he had held on for nearly 10 years and his government protection! So now, they can’t turn a blind eye to his activities! All in the span of a single night. He did those things to get Caesar back. That’s his answer! If we give him back, the deal is complete…but, that would be too simple, wouldn’t it be?”

“So what now?” asked Sanji, sticking his head from the kitchen, as he had started to make breakfast

“We wait. I’ll text Doflamingo the number to this phone to call me, and then we’ll put down terms for the exchange”

_They waited all day_

Thankfully everyone seemed to find ways to distract themselves – Kin’emon even offering to make them all new outfits for the ‘battle’, which surprised Law

Apparently Kin’emon was actually from big name dressmaker from Japan and wanted to thank them all for saving Momonosuke

Law had no idea there was Yakuza dressmakers

Others were working on their weapons of choice, discussing the food situation and etc

Considering everyone had to make sure they weren’t seen, it was tricky as well. Thankfully the house was rather isolated

_“__You a stupid hoe, you a you a stupid hoe___  
You a stupid hoe, you a you a stupid hoe  
You a stupid hoe, you a you a stupid hoe”

Law sighed in relief when he heard the ringtone, answering his phone and putting it on speaker – _finally_

_“It’s me. I quit the Warlord” _

“It’s him!” yelled Brook, shocked

“DOFLAMINGO!”

“SHH! Be quiet you guys! He’ll hear you!” yelled Usopp, grabbing Luffy’s shirt

“HELLO THIS IS LUFFY D.MONKEY SPEAKING! Future don of the underworld!”

_LUFFY, WHAT THE FUCK_

“We JUST told you to be quiet!” chided Usopp as Luffy took the phone from Law

“Hey ‘mingo! SO you’re the boss of this ding-dong Caesar?! He was doing such horrible shit to Brownbeard and those kids! We’re only giving you back this shithead since it was the deal, but if you ever do anything like that again, I’m coming for you next, _understood??”_

Law stared, surprised and in awe of Luffy

The balls that took was incredible and _Luffy was so casual about it_

_“Strawhat Luffy! What have you been up to these two years since your brother got crippled?” _

_ASSHOLE_

“That’s a secret” answered Luffy “I’m not supposed to say!”

_You…didn’t have to say that_

_“Hee hee, I’ve been eager to meet you. As if happens, I’ve got something that I highly suspect you’ll be desperate to get your hands on”_ teased Doflamingo

“T-Tell me more” started Luffy, Law could see him drooling “What kind of meat is it? How good does it taste?”

_Okay, he needed to take his phone back_

“Luffy! Don’t give him ammo!” chided Law as he took the phone back “Stop talking crap, Joker, and stick to the topic. We’ll give you Caesar, as agreed”

_“That’s a smart move, for your own sake. If you try to vanish on me after all of this, even you know what the consequences would be. Heehee, first step, show me that my business partner is unharmed” _

Law sighed and put on the facetime and put the camera right in Caesar’s face for a moment before he turned it off

“Are you happy? He’s alive and screeching like the annoying banshee he is”

_“I am”_

“Good. Five days and 8 hours from now, at Greenbit island, the little island north of the high school. I’ll leave him on the beach. We’ll leave him there and you can pick him up whenever. There will be no other contact until then” stated Law, having practiced this speech over and over last night

_He needed it to be perfectly clear_

Since it was on a Saturday, there shouldn’t be anyone at the school

“_Hee hee, what a shame! I was hoping to share a drink with you! Now that you’re all grown up-“_

_Gross_

Law hit the button to disconnect the call, _he didn’t want to hear this!_

“What if he shows up with an army?” asked Sanji, worried “We didn’t specify how many people he could bring”

“Won’t be an issue. This is a decoy anyways” explained Law

“The idea is to destroy the factory while he’s busy with Caesar?” asked Usopp

_Finally, they’re catching on!_

“Exactly, the problem is that I don’t know where the damn factory is on the school grounds”

_“I can help you with that” _

Law froze as he heard the voice

_Holy fuck_

_Holy fuck_

Law slowly turned around to see the last person he expected leaning against the basement doorway

Cora!!

Holy fuck, _he must have heard everything!!_

_“But only after I throttle you!!” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RUH RUH
> 
> GUESS WHO'S HERE AND WILL BE NEXT CHAPTER!!!! (posting on....Sunday? I think? I'm tired, what's counting)


	24. -CORAZON- Filicide for Dummies (How to Plan and Get Away with Murder)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it is CORA TIME!

“Thank you for joining me here, nma”

“No! Thank you!” expressed Cora as he looked around the yard. There were creations and sculptures of all kinds in the yard. Iceburg had explained how to come in from the forest – _not wanting anyone to see that they were meeting_

Iceburg walked up to a door and punched a code, unlocking said door as they walked in. Once inside, Cora was in absolute awe at the workshop in front of him. It was an odd mix of top of the line equipment but it looked really used and worn

“Franky won’t be able to join us right away, he’s busy right now with Luffy’s search for your son” explained Iceburg “From what I gathered from his text, they arrived back really late last night and are now exhausted and regrouping. He said he’d come pop in though”

“That’s fine. This place is really cool but –“ started Cora as he frowned, lifting up his phone – shocked “The workshop is scrambled, isn’t it?”

_“Correct”_ confirmed Iceburg “Nobody can track us here nor can any communication come in or get out digitally from this room. Which is why I thought I’d be the perfect place to talk considering the subject at hand”

“Another question!” asked Cora, lifting up his hand

“Nnma, yes?”

“Who’s that little fellow!” asked Cora, grinning as he pointed to the small mouse peeping from Iceburg’s shirt pocket

“Ah! This is Tyrannosaurus” explained Iceburg as he put the mouse on the table, the mouse running up to Cora who gently petted his head with his finger

“Oh my god, you’re so cute! We’re friends now, Tyrannosaurus!”

_This was coming close to the best day EVER!_

“So I wanted to show these documents I dug up after our conversation” started Iceburg as he took out a stack of files from his leather briefcase and handed them over to Cora. Cora quickly scattered them on the table, laying them out as he quickly skimmed the contents

_Holy fuck_

“Is this…a land transfer?”

“Correct. Basically from what I understand, Eneru agreed to sell off the land of the school to a private buyer. So once the previous principal Rikku was pushed out of office, the World Government stepped in to replace him. Now, personally I think what happened to Rikku is pure slander and should have been investigated more, but I digress. So first it was in the hands of the World Government, Eneru agreed to it being fully under their jurisdiction and protection. Meaning pretty much, _anything goes_. As long as it’s under their sanction, none of the local bylaws, state laws, Federals laws, etc applies” explained Iceburg

“So…this is like, a Vatican city almost?” offered Cora

“Precisely. Now, here’s the real trouble. Once Sakazuki was forced out, the land was technically still under World Government jurisdiction, and technically it still is – even with a new buyer”

Cora frowned sharply

“What? You’re telling me someone bought the land and it’s still protected under the World Government? How is that possible?”

“I thought you might be able to answer that for me” admitted Iceburg, pulling one of the documents out of its manila file “This is all I know of the new buyer”

Right there, in black, was written a signature he knew too well

“Like what kind of name is ‘Joker’?!” asked Iceburg, frustrated “To think that imbecile of a politician accepted something as shady as this?”

“It’s my brother” confirmed Cora

_“What?”_

“My brother, Doflamingo Donquixote. Joker is his underworld alias – it makes sense. Someone in the Warlord Program is under World Government protection! If he bought the land, the protection continues to cover over him. Meaning nothing he does will possibly be investigate or even prosecuted. He could literally kill kids and they would do nothing!”

“It gets worse” started Iceburg as he pulled out another stack of files “They’ve been buying the surrounding land, through private owners. So the school’s territory is now massive. There’s a housing complex, a massive estate, lots of land and they’ve been building for months now. And since it’s on private property, I can’t even demand to know what it is either. Especially not with their protection”

Cora frowned, looking over everything

_How could this have happened?!_

Right under their noses?!

“This is…insane” muttered Cora, looking at everything over

They didn’t even need building permits. If anyone came to question them, they could just wave their World Government protection in their face!!

“It’s what happens when crooker people are in power, I’m afraid”

“He’s rebuilt Dressrosa” mumbled Cora, looking over the map of the territory

“What? How did you know the new name?” asked Iceburg, shocked

Cora blinked slowly

“Huh?”

“I just received the paperwork for it today? They’re renaming the school Dressrosa High”

“Holy shit – it’s what I feared! He rebuilt his kingdom here! He did build himself a little Vatican. God knows what he’s doing on these grounds! The workers looked drugged and forced to do labour, there’s guards with guns!” rambled Cora as all the pieces fell into place in his head

“What?!” blurted out Iceburg, shocked

“It all makes sense! This whole time! He was trying to lock Law inside his clutches! Somewhere he wouldn’t expect and where he’d feel safe. Which would be his school! But Law caught on and became scarce. But now, Doflamingo is trying to lure him back! But the next question is-“ explained Cora as he took out the map that Bepo had drawn up and laid it out on the table

“Is that we need to figure out what he’s trying to build. My biggest concern is this big circular building here and this other big one here, with three chimneys”

Iceberg leaned over the maps, reading it intensely

“Who drew these?”

“My son, Bepo, why?”

“They’re fantastic! By the shape of both of these buildings, I can tell you that this is some sort of factory and this one looks like a coliseum. Neither of which I have permits for, mind you. But I did find trace that electricity and water are being used in both of these buildings. Meaning whatever they are, they’re active” explained Iceburg frowning “I wouldn’t be able to get on the lot myself to investigate though. Because if I could see it, I could confirm it”

“A coliseum on fucking school grounds? I wouldn’t put it pass him to start Killing Games” muttered Cora, frustrated “I know the factory looking building is active though. Bepo and the others said that they see smoke coming from it and a funny smell. I just wish I knew what they were making in here”

_“OH RADICAL! You guys found the factory for us!” _

They both turned around, surprised to see Franky walking up to them from the staircase in back of the room “What a rocking map! Where did you get this? Do you mind if I make a copy? We’d def need something like this to help us!”

“My son made it. But to help you do what?” asked Cora, lifting a brow

“Oh, Law didn’t tell you? We’re gonna destroy this factory. It’s where Doflamingo is producing the SMILE drug. Law plans on attacking the place on Saturday and since Law and Luffy are officially in an alliance, we’re going along too” explained Franky

_What_

Then he paused

He then looked at Cora’s face

_“Oh shit, he didn’t tell you, did he?”_

“…Franky” started Cora sweetly, trying his hardest to smile brightly “When did Law tell you all of this?”

“Uhh…Yesterday. He said he’d get into more details today, but he’s waiting back on the call from Doflamingo”

_WHAT_

_“The call from who-“_

_“__You a stupid hoe, you a you a stupid hoe___  
You a stupid hoe, you a you a stupid hoe  
You a stupid hoe, you a you a stupid hoe”

All three men paused, looking at each other confused for a moment before looking up, towards the stairs

“DOFLAMINGO!”

“SHH! Be quiet you guys! He’ll hear you!”

“HELLO THIS IS LUFFY D.MONKEY SPEAKING! Future don of the underworld!”

Cora face flat lined as he looked non-amused to Franky

“It’s my stupid son, Law, upstairs, right now, calling my murderous older brother, isn’t it?”

“Yep. Sorry man, I thought he had called you. That’s mega lame of him! We found him this weekend on this island called Punk Hazard and brought him back yesterday” confirmed Franky

“Excuse me!” yelled Cora as he moved between Franky and Iceburg, hit his hip against the metal table in the workshop

Hit the doorframe going up the stairs

Missed a step and fell face first into the staircase and kept crawling up the stairs

Listening to the far-away voice coming closer and closer of his stupid ass ward

Once finally up the stairs, the opened and door and listened

“Good. Five days and 8 hours from now, at Greenbit, the little island north of the high school. I’ll leave him on the beach. We’ll leave him there and you can pick him up whenever. There will be no other contact” stated Law, having practiced this speech over and over last night

“_Hee hee, what a shame! I was hoping to share a drin with you! Now that you’re all grown up-“_

Rolling his eyes, Law ended the call, clearly not wanting to hear of that

Law had bruises on his face; he looked thinner, _much thinner._ He looked exhausted and trying so hard to be strong

_But he was alive, and he was there!_

“What if he shows up with an army?” asked Sanji, worried “We didn’t specify how many people he could bring”

“Won’t be an issue. This is a decoy anyways” explained Law

“The idea is to destroy the factory while he’s busy with Caesar?” asked Usopp

“Exactly, the problem is that I don’t know where the damn factory is on the school grounds”

“I can help you with that”

“Cora?! “ cried out Law, surprised

“_But only after I throttle you!!” _Cora ran towards Law at full speed, arms up in the air

Luffy moved, trying to stop him from hurting Law, but it wasn’t fast enough

Cora grabbed Law and pulled him into close into the tightest hug, burying his face in Law’s shoulder

“I was so scared-!! I’m so happy you’re okay!”

He knew he looked pathetic sobbing on Law right now, but Cora knew it was all the stress of the precious months of worrying coming out

And frankly he didn’t care! _Law could tolerate a little discomfort for what he did!_

Law clutched Cora back

“I’m so sorry for worrying you…I didn’t have a choice. Vergo was there and –“

“I know” admitted Cora, pulling back from the hug, but still holding onto his shoulders “I know. I heard about Vergo. Listen, I’m upset that you left without a word, but I was able to piece it all together and figured out that you did it for my sake, all of our sakes. But Law, I don’t want you to fight this alone. This isn’t right. You gathered up all these friends and loved ones over the years – so when the hell are you going to depend on us to help you?”

“Yeah…I guess you have a point” admitted Law, rubbing the back of his neck

“Of course I do” replied Cora, grinning

_“JOKER!! You’re here to save me?!”_

Cora frowned sharply, turning around to look at the source of the sound – only to see a funny looking man chained to a beam

“Who the fuck is this??” asked Cora, pointing at the bruised thing “Why is he calling me that?”

“He’s annoying, you can just kick him” replied Law, casually

_“JOKER?!” _screeched the thing

“_Don’t call me that!”_ snapped Cora, annoyed “And why should I kick him?!”

“That’s Caesar Clown. He drugged up little kids and did experiments on them” explained Law, pointing towards Caesar

WHAT

After kicking the crap out of Caesar, Law explained that Caesar is their hostage because Doflamingo needs him to produce the compound to make SMILE – and without SMILE, Kaido will kill him

“Hmmm, so your intention is to destroy the plant on school ground, therefore truly ruining him”

“Right” said Law, nodding

“But he’s protected by the Government? Could he not just, go to them for protection from Kaido?” asked Cora

“Wait, you don’t know?” asked Robin, handing over a tablet to Cora, showing him the front page of the World Government’s website

_Holy fuck!_

Cora burst out laughing – _this WAS the best day of his life!_

“He lost all of his protection!” gasped Cora, thrilled

“Nmma, technically yes. He would get arrested if caught doing anything” confirmed Iceburg, having now joined him upstairs but then he sighed “The issue is that since it’s still World Government property, we don’t have the jurisdiction to send our cops in there. It has to be World Government agents that arrest him”

Cora groaned loudly, whipping his body in a circle, flaying his arms

_“Uuuurgghhh that means contacting Sakazuki”_

Law shrugged “You won’t have to. I planted the idea in someone else”

Cora lifted a brow

“You sure that’s gonna pay out?”

Law frowned sharply, as if just remembering something

“Wait…Maybe not. Apparently Smoker got attacked by Doflamingo. He might be in no condition to make that call”

_“WHAT!?” _What happened to the captain?!?!

“Yeah, it’s pretty bad apparently. Ace got real nasty on me on the phone when he called to understand why. He’s at the G5 hospital I imagine though. I’d contact Ace to get more information”

“Yeah, Ace called us from his car. So I bet he was driving there” added Luffy from Law’s side

“Shit, well, I can do it. But not before I hear the full plan!” Cora stomped his foot and crossed his arms – he wasn’t backing down on this

“Well, that’s the thing, I have the bones of a plan. But I’m missing data, so I was thinking of scouting this week. We’re not going in until Saturday, so that gives us four days to plan out our movements” explained Law, rubbing the back of his neck

“Bepo, Shachi , Penguin and Jean Bart have been scouting the school the whole time you’ve been gone. We have maps, details and such from them” offered Cora “I can get those for you and we can regroup with the data”

“What?! Who told them to do that?!” asked Law, shocked

“I did, you twerp! Did you really think I’d sit there DWIDDLING MY THUMBS while you went off to play hero?!” yelled Cora

_Honestly Law!_

“This is EXACTLY why I didn’t want you involved in this, Cora!” snapped Law, surprising the occupants in the room “Doflamingo is going to try to kill you first! No matter what! The minute he’s back in town, he’s going after you, ASAP! And you know this! He’s going to try to kill you!”

“Well he won’t” replied Cora, smiling

“How are you so sure?!” asked Law, incredulous

“Because we’re gonna get me killed first!”

_He can’t kill me if I’m dead~!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all missed Cora right? So you wouldn't mind more Cora next week?


	25. -Ace- Revenge is Sweet (Time To Get a Recipe for Chicken à la King)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of Ace before we go back to Cora, okay?

Tap tap tap tap

_He really needed to study for his final_

Tap tap tap tap 

He honestly couldn’t concentrate whatsoever right now

Tap tap tap tap

Ace jumped when his cellphone rang, throwing the pencil he was holding in the air, scaring the shit out of him. Looking down, he saw Luffy’s name light up and he smiled, picking it up

“Oy Luffy, what are you calling me for? You know we ain’t got no bail money for you!” teased Ace, snickering at the tired old joke

_“-This isn’t Luffy”_

Ace gasped softly, almost dropping the phone at Smoker’s voice

_Holy shit holy shit!_

“Why do you have Luffy’s phone?!”

_"_ _Why do I have Luffy’s phone? Because your stupid little brother is right beside me”_

“What? Oh my god, why am I not surprised that he’s there”

“_Hey!”_

Ace snickered at Luffy’s cry; he loved it when they ganged up on Luffy to make fun of him 

“I’m so happy to hear your voice” admitted Ace, feeling himself almost tearing up - _he had been more worried than he cared to admit_

_“Yeah, I can’t talk long. I should be coming home soon. We’re just waiting for a pick up. Our RVs got trashed pretty bad” _

The RVs got trashed? _How the hell did two armoured RVs get trashed?!_

“Like a big explosion? Like the movies! Man, I can’t wait for you to tell me all about it!”

Smoker’s laugh caused the butterflies in his stomach to go nuts

_“Also, I found Law, so you can punch him in the dick”_

“Oh is that so? Good! I’ve been training my punching arm! So I guess you found the lab, huh?” 

_“Yeah, the lab’s dead. I can’t wait to come home and sleep for a week. Alright, I don’t want to use up Luffy’s battery so I’m going to let you go”_

Ace whined softly, not wanting the call to end

“I love you so much. Please come home soon”

_“Yeah, I love you too. I can’t wait to get home. See you soon” _

Ace heard the dial tone and he felt his heart sink

_That call was too short_ but at least now he knew that Smoker was coming home soon. Ace sighed in relief, thankful, _he’d actually be able to sleep tonight_

The bed just felt too big when Smoker wasn’t there – even with Kotatsu and Justice on it with him

Ace yawned loudly, scratching Justice behind the ear. She had come up while he was on the phone, probably hearing her master’s voice

“Did you hear that, girl? He’s coming home soon! We need to make him a big supper, yeah?”

Justice nuzzled Ace, making him laugh

Ace jerked up from his place on the ground, surprised

He shook his head slightly, trying to shake the sleep off as he wiped the drool from the corner of his lips

_Looks like he fell asleep in his homework_

Blinking, Ace glared slightly at his ringing cellphone, grumbling as he answered it

_This had better be good!_ He had finally fallen asleep proper since Smoker had left!!

“‘Ello?”

_“Ace?! Ace?”_

Huh? _Why was Sabo sounding so panicky?_

“Yeah? What’s wrong, Sabo?” asked Ace, scratching his head, _how long was he out for? _

_“Fuck, you haven’t heard”_ muttered Sabo, knocking Ace right out of his drowsiness

“What haven’t I heard?” hissed Ace

“_Look, I’ll start from the top. This evening we intercepted a call asking from Smoker asking for a pick up at Punk Hazard_” explained Sabo

“Yeah? I knew that much! He called me using Luffy’s cellphone, but he didn’t tell me he was at Punk Hazard!” pointed out Ace

Was that the issue? _That Smoker called from Punk Hazard?_

..._What the fuck was Punk Hazard anyways?_

_“Did you hear anything else?”_ asked Sabo

“No? Dude, what the fuck are you not telling me?” Ace was honestly getting real pissed off with this game of 20 questions

_“Okay, okay, so about an hour ago, the World Government said that they spotted Doflamingo heading to Punk Hazard”_

“Holy shit, _what?!”_

_“Ace, we just intercepted another message. They asked for another transport to come get them at Punk Hazard. They’re now asking for an urgent medical transport”_

Ace swore he felt his throat fall into his stomach

_No no no no no no no no_

“...Sabo, what the fuck do you know?!”

_“Ace, it’s Smoker. Apparently he wouldn’t let Doflamingo hurt his men, so he took the brunt of it_”

_No no no no no no_

“Sabo...this isn’t fucking funny” Ace could hear his voice shaking as he replied to Sabo

_He knew what Doflamingo was capable of_

_“Ace, you know I’m not lying! It’s really bad, he was conscious when they made the call. They said they can only keep him so stable for now, but he needs medical intervention immediately” _

“Sabo, how the fuck do you get to Punk Hazard!?” asked Ace, trying to navigate himself to his chair as he put Sabo on speaker

_“Ace! Punk Hazard is like, 5 hours away from you!” _

_I don’t care I don’t care I don’t care_

“I don’t give a fuck how far it is! _Where the fuck is it?!”_

Ace didn’t give a shit if it was 3 days away and he needed to _fucking crawl there_!_ He was going to where Smoker was! _

_“No! Ace, listen! It’s only going to take the helicopter 45 minutes to get there from G-5! Meaning by the time you’re even fucking close to Punk Hazard, he’d already be at the G-5 General Hospital, which is where he’s heading!” _

“Okay...So I...I need to get to the hospital”

He was panicking, he knew it, he needed to calm down, he needed his wallet_, he needed to breathe_

Keys

_He needs his keys!!_

_“Ace, listen, you need to breathe” _

Ace jumped slightly at Koala’s voice 

_“Think. You’re not next of kin. They won’t let you in the room or give you any critical info. So you need to get Eleanor” _

Shit

_She was right!_

Him and Chase were just engaged! _So he legally wasn’t next of kin yet!_

“Holy fuck, I would have gotten all the way over there-”

_“And get turned down, yeah, get Eleanor. As his sister, on-record, she’ll be able to get in. Chase has you down as his Emergency Contact, but you’re not legally his partner yet, so they might turn you down. She can assure you’ll get in!”_

“Thank you, thank you, I -”

Ace thinks he would have lost it if he had gotten to the hospital and been turned down

_“It’s okay, Ace. Just breathe. Get ready and going, get Eleanor and get driving to G5. If we find out anything, we’ll let you know, okay?”_

“Okay, thank you!”

_“We love you, Ace. Please be careful. We don’t want you getting hurt trying to get to him”_

“I love you both too” whimpered Ace, trying to keep his calm

_“Now go! Get your man, Ace!”_ replied Sabo, having taken back the phone, a dial tone a moment later

Sabo never liked saying goodbye on the phone

_Please let him be okay_

Ace shifted slightly, surprised when he felt Justice’s cold nose on his hand as she let out a small whine, Kotatsu on the other side of him

Ace smiled, trying to hold back his tears as he petted both of them

“I’ll bring him home,_ I promise_”

“Thanks for waiting, hun” announced Eleanor as she got into the car and gave Ace a quick kiss on the cheek and a hug

Ace didn’t take any chances and drove right to her bar - and lo and behold she was behind the counter so Ace had called her from the car. He wasn’t willing to waste the time of getting out of the car

“So what the fuck happened to Chase?! For him to be critical in the hospital?!” asked Eleanor, buckling up

_“Doflaming_o” growled Ace as he started to drive, quickly getting onto the highway

“Pops always hated that son of a bitch” exclaimed Eleanor “Do you have any details?”

“No, Sabo intercepted the CB radio call. So he doesn’t have that many details bu-”

Smoker had called from Luffy’s phone!

_Luffy!!_

Ace quickly leaned in and punched a few things on the onboard screen and soon enough, the music was replaced by the sound of a phone ringing

_C’mon_

_C’mon_

_C’mon_

_“What’s up, Ace?”_

_Oh thank fuck Luffy answered_

“What the fuck happened on Punk Hazard, Luffy?!” 

_“Huh? How did you know I was there?”_

“I don’t have time for you to play dumb, Luffy! Why the fuck did Chase go from ‘I’m coming home soon’ to ‘critical and on his way to the hospital’?!” 

_“Smokey’s in critical condition?!” _

Luffy sounded genuinely shocked

_“But he was okay when we left!”_

“Wait, you left before him?” asked Ace, getting annoyed

_“Yeah! Tashigi and the kids left first, because Nami wanted to be sure they got safely off the island”_

_The kids?!_

_“And then we left! Smokey stayed behind with a bunch of cops to try to rescue the survivors and stuff! And they had to wait to be picked up!”_

“So...you guys never saw Doflamingo?” asked Ace cautiously, as Eleanor quietly listened

_“Doflamingo?! He got there before they left?! He was that close?!” _

Wait, _was that Law?!_

“Luffy, _you put that punk ass bitch Law on the phone right fucking now_!”

Ace heard Luffy turning to Law, telling him that Ace wanted to speak to him

_“Uh...hello?” _replied Law cautiously, clearly having heard Ace’s demand

“Listen and you listen good, you have _one goddamn chance_ to tell me the truth and if I find out you fucking lied to me, I will do worst to your spine that the pole did to me, you fucking hear me? _What the fuck happened to Smoker that would have landed him in the hospital in critical condition!?”_

Eleanore did a low whistle, impressed at the threat

_Only to be rewarded with silence_

_“Did I fucking make you mute?!”_

“_No! Just...a lot happened. I’m trying to figure it all out so I’m not lying to you” _

Ace huffed slightly, Law sounded like he was being honest

_“Well, he was drugged-”_

“With what?!” _drugged?!_

_“...Nothing that would land him at the hospital. And I flushed it out of his system” _

“Continue”

_“Umm, fuck. There was bruising for sure, severe bruising. Blunt trauma, a lot of it, his nose seemed broken, there was bleeding, but I saw no sign of internal bleeding. He didn’t seem concussed, but he did receive a really bad blow to the back of his neck and head. Broken rib or two for sure, his knuckles’ skin was probably broken as well from all the punching he did. Also, his heart received considerable stress, but he seemed fine last we left, I swear! He was barking orders and mobile, Ace!”_

_But_

That lingering _but_ was in the air

“What are you not telling me, Law?” growled Ace, angry he couldn’t throttle the other in person

_“I…Uh…just threatened Doflamingo. But I thought they had left! I thought they’d be gone before he showed up to collect his subordinates!”_ admitted Law, the guilt pouring out of his voice

“So, let me get this straight – _you_ threatened Doflamingo? Now, why would he go try to kill Smoker over that?!”

_There was a missing piece of the puzzle here!_

_“Uh…well. I had left a burner phone besides the body of two of his associates. That we beat up and tied up and left at Punk Hazard”_

“…so, you pissed him off, on the island Smoker was on, with you gone, and he probably got pissed off and went looking for where you went and came across Smoker and the other cops??” offered Ace

“_Yeah…that’s the most logical course of events”_ confirmed Law, meekly

_“Fuck you, Law!”_ yelled Ace as he hit the ‘hang up’ button, ending the call

“Ace…” started Eleanor “He couldn’t have known Chase was still there”

Ace let out an irritated noise, huffing

“I don’t care! _He’s a weenie!”_

Eleanor laughed softly

“C’mon, let’s just get to the hospital, okay?”

Once they finally arrived to the G5 General, things were already chaotic at the hospital

There were nurses running around everywhere, trying to help a massive amount of injured people. Kids, almost thirty kids were all in triage, panic in their eyes as they cried softly. Ace grit his teeth, shocked at the sight of them – _they were gigantic!_

But thankfully, at the reception area, was Tashigi, on her phone, talking a million miles an hour

“Yes yes yes, I’ll need you to send me the contact information of all the parents you gathered! We have nearly every kid that we found there! The only one that didn’t come with us is because his father found him on the island. Yes, yes. As soon as you can, Bellemere! Thank you!”

“Tashigi?” asked Ace, going up to her

Tashigi jumped slightly, turning around to look at Ace, relieved yet panicky

“Ace! _Why are you here?!_ I didn’t get a chance to call you yet! Smoker told me not to! He told me to contact the parents of the kids first! He was very strict about it! And he wouldn’t hear otherwise! I swear! I really wanted to call you first!” blabbered on Tashigi, clearly afraid that Ace would be angry at her

“Sabo called me” admitted Ace “Where is he?!”

“He’s in surgery” explained Tashigi, nearly in tears. It seemed she was trying so hard to hold it all together and now she was falling apart “Oh Ace, _it was horrible_. He arrived soon after I checked in with all of the kids. He was covered in bandages from the care he received from the officers. He was stable when he arrived though; he took off the respirator to yell at me to contact the parents first and not you though”

Ace exhaled, able to relax a bit

That sure sounded like him

“Miss? He’s out of surgery, but we have to limit the amount of guests. Family only”

The trio jumped as the nurse suddenly showed up behind them

“I’m his sister, I’m on his file” said Eleanor, and then pointed to Ace with her thumb “This lad is his fiancé, so I hope you’ll be able to let us in”

The nurse paused for a moment, before she nodded

“Of course yes, come along”

Ace sighed in relief. He turned to Tashigi and took her hand, smiling softly

“_I’m not mad._ I’m honestly not surprised he put the kids first, he wouldn’t be the man I love otherwise”

Tashigi sniffled, wiping a tear away from her eye and nodded

“You’re right!”

“Call Hina, okay? I want there to be someone to support you too”

“I-I will!”

“Wakey wakey, sleeping beauty” teased Ace as he saw Smoker’s eyes flutter open with a groan

He had been under for a couple of hours, but it relaxed Ace to see him breathing in and out. Eleanor had returned home, since only one person could stay in the room. Tashigi had driven her back to Goa, now that the kids had been reunited with their parents.

“Ace? Whatchu doing here?” asked Smoker all groggy as his eyes looked around the room “I’m at the hospital?”

“Yeah, you had some surgery and shit done. I don’t like competition, old man. I’m the one who’s always supposed to land in the hospital” teased Ace

Tashigi had filled him in on what had happened to Smoker before she left – from the drugging, the fighting, and the face-off with Vergo and everything

_The other officers had told him everything afterwards_

How Smoker had literally put himself in the way to take Doflamingo’s hit to save their lives. But when Ace had asked them how they escaped Doflamingo’s wrath. All they said that Doflamingo had merely lost interest and left

Ace didn’t buy it for a second, but he merely assumed that it was something that they couldn’t talk about

“Keeping you on your toes, brat” replied Smoker, with a smirk

Ace leaned forward, holding onto the railing of the hospital bed and kissed Smoker softly on the cheek

He could only imagine in how much pain Smoker was in currently. He covered nearly head to toe in bandages and gauze. His right eye was covered with gauze as well as one around his head. The doctor had assured him that eye was fine; merely that he had cuts that were rather close to the eye, so they felt it was a better idea to cover it all up

The doctor had also told him that they were horrified that these injuries were done by humans

Ace nearly correcting him to say that they weren’t – _they were done by absolute monsters_

At least one of them was dead now

“’M sorry that I almost didn’t come home” said Smoker softly, his hand reaching out to stroke Ace’s cheek with the back of his hand

“I’m not mad” replied Ace, taking the hand and kissing the fingers softly “How can I be mad when you put yourself in harm’s way to save others? You made it home, and that’s what matters…what I don’t get is why Doflamingo beat you so bad?”

Ace purposely didn’t mention his conversation with Law – he wanted to know what Smoker knew first

“He wanted to know where Law and your little brother went. I told him I didn’t know. He knew I was full of shit” admitted Smoker, easily, slightly slurring his words

Ace lifted a brow – _right,_ he was probably on good drugs right now

_Giving him nice loose lips_

“Thank you, for protecting Luffy” said Ace, genuinely meaning it

“You’d be mad at me otherwise” replied Smoker, grunting “’sides, they’re out to get the bastard anyways. So I figure I’d let them have any edge possible”

Ace chuckled softly

“Yeah, I’d be kinda mad. But mostly because I know you’d never give him up anyways” admitted Ace, nuzzling Smoker’s hand softly

“Yeah, probably” mumbled Smoker, smiling at Ace softly “You’re so beautiful”

Ace blinked, surprised and snorted

“Is that so? I think you’re too beaten up for a blow job right now though, babe, so there’s no point in flattering me right now”

“Yeah, I think so too. But I dunno, can’t tell. Everything’s fuzzy” agreed Smoker, his eyes appearing glazed “You’re still beautiful though”

_Ah, he must be exhausted_

“You scared me. When I heard the news from Sabo” admitted Ace, hoping the other would forget the conversation once he woke back up “I thought I lost you”

“I’m too stubborn for that” shot back Smoker, smiling “I’d punch the grim reaper if he tried to stop me from coming home”

Ace laughed softly

“Gonna punch the grim reaper, huh?”

“For you? Yeah”

“You gonna sleep now?” asked Ace, watching Smoker nodding off

“Yeah. ‘M tired. S’been a long couple of days” slurred Smoker, clearly fighting to stay awake

“Alright, I’ll stay here, okay?”

_“Promise?”_

Ace’s could feel the tug on his heart’s strings at the request. He couldn’t remember the last time he heard such a small, helpless voice from Smoker

“Yeah, I’ll be right here. I promise. Gonna imagine you naked and stuff though”

_"Perv”_ chided Smoker with a smile as Ace watched him fall asleep

The door behind him slammed open as someone forced themselves into the room, making Ace jump

_“Holy fuck! Who the fuck did a number like that on him?!” _

_Holy shit-!_

“Marco!?” asked Ace, shocked “What are you doing here?!”

“Eleanor called me. She told me you were here alone, and since she needed to go back to the bar she asked if I could pop in to make sure you were okay” explained Marco, grimacing as he looked at Smoker “Clearly you’re better than him”

“Doflamingo did this to him” hissed Ace, the fury in his voice evident

“_Don’t do anything stupid, Ace_” warned Marco, adjusting the glasses on his face with his palm “You’re in no condition, right now”

Ace huffed, annoyed

“Don’t remind me”

Marco then smirked

“Let’s do something smart instead” offered Marco

Ace frowned

_“What the fuck do you mean?” _

Marco grinned as he pulled out his phone, unlocking it and showing the screen to Ace

“Have you not seen the news?”

_Holy fuck-!_

“He has no protection?! He’s fucking open for season!” Ace smirked grew, overtaking his face as Marco smirked back at him broadly

“Are you in the mood to help me make his life a living hell?” asked Marco “Ready to make sure a chicken gets all their feathers plucked?”

“_You fucking know I am_” agreed Ace “Each feather, _one by one_”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annndd there we have it! The players are slowly coming together! 
> 
> Back to Cora on Saturday!


End file.
